Netflix Announces Tekken: Bloodline Anime Series For Premiere In 2022

Spencer Baculi |

Mar 20, 2022

Source: Tekken: Bloodline (2022), Netflix

Heihaci, Jin, and a whole host of the King of the Iron Fist Tournament’s regular entrants are set to get their second shot in the animated adaptation ring, as Netflix has announced Tekken: Bloodline, a new anime based on the popular Bandai Namco fighting game series of the same name.

Revealed on March 19th with a short minute-and-a-half-long teaser trailer, Tekken: Bloodline will focus on Jin Kazama, the series’ primary protagonist since his debut in Tekken 3.

The youngest member of the Mishima Bloodline, Kazama’s story in the games follows his quest to put an end to his family’s legacy of evil once and for all, all the while battling his inherent-born possession by the villainous Devil Gene.

“‘Power is everything,’” quotes the opening of a series synopsis provided by Netflix. “Jin Kazama learned the family self-defense arts, Kazama-Style Traditional Martial Arts, from his mother at an early age. Even so, he was powerless when a monstrous evil suddenly appeared, destroying everything dear to him, changing his life forever.”

“Angry at himself for being unable to stop it, Jin vowed revenge and sought absolute power to exact it,” it continues. “His quest will lead to the ultimate battle on a global stage — The King of Iron Fist Tournament.”

While plot details on Tekken: Bloodline are currently being kept tight-lipped, given that the teaser’s two key moments are established moments within the original games’ canon – Jin’s mother being attacked by an Ogre on his 15th birthday and his subsequent training by Heihachi – it seems the series will attempt to remain faithful to its source material.

Aside from Jin, Jun, and Heihachi, other Tekken fighters seen in the trailer include the hot-headed American street fighter Paul Phoenix:

The New York City-based anti-gangland crusader Leroy:

Jin’s father and former series lead, Kazuya Mishima:

and iconic series luchador King:

As noted above, Tekken: Bloodlines will mark the second proper anime outing – the franchise received an animated CGI film, Tekken: Blood Vengeance, in 2011 – for Tekken.

The first, Tekken: The Motion Picture, was released by Namco in 1998.

Produced by KonoSuba animation studio Studio Deen, the hour-long OVA was a loose adaptation of the first three games in the series, beginning with Heihachi’s throwing of a young Kazuya off a cliff after deeming him to be ‘too weak’ to carry on the bloodline and ending with Jun and Jin’s retreat into the forest to live a life of isolation.