The King of the Iron Fist is now an anime. Finally, the animated transposition of Tekken is reality and the bloodline of the Mishima family is revealed in this six episodes series.
The King of the Iron Fist Tournament
The worldwide success franchise of the producer Katsuhiro Harada has its anime transposition. A journey started in 1994, when the first Tekken launched for arcades and Playstation. The videogame was one of the lasts to portrait the martial art tournament in the fighting game genre, very late compared to games like Street Fighter and Art of Fighting. Despite that, the attention to the storyline of each character and the unbelievable recreation of the martial art styles, it has turned Tekken in one of the best fighting videogame of all time.
Tekken animation
Tekken: Bloodline is not the first attempt to deliver an animated product of the videogame saga. In 1998, a two parts OVA anime series called Tekken: The Motion Picture was released, following the events of the Mishima family in the first two tournaments. In 2011, a CGI animated film with the name of Tekken: Blood Vengeance debuted in the franchise, with a very good response, set between Tekken 5 and Tekken 6. Tekken: Bloodline tells the story of Jin Kazama taking part of the third King of The Iron Fist Tournament in order to avenge his mother Jun Kazama, died at the demon Ogre hands.
The Mishima’s Bloodline
Introducing all the aspects of Tekken 3 is almost impossible, due the variety of characters and characterization, but the anime did very good, focusing on Jin Kazama and his story. The difference between the Kazama and the Mishima karate style is well displayed, like the other martial art styles of the King of the Iron Fist Tournament. Questionable the choice to introduce so early some characters like Leroy Smith, even if it is an attempt to approach the new players of the latest Tekken. Maybe Paul Phoenix and Nina Williams are not portrayed so skilled like in the videogame, despite that I liked very much Hwoarang and Ling Xiaoyu. Very good the soundtrack, evocates the vibes of the videogame.
In the last years, videogames animated transposition are a pleasant surprise, like we have seen with Mortal Kombat Legends. Tekken: Bloodline is also a very good transposition of a popular videogame series and I hope to see more seasons coming for the next battle!
The King of the Iron Fist is now an anime on Netflix. Did you like the anime? What’s your main in Tekken?