Netflix Announces Tekken: Bloodlines Animated Series

On March 20th, Netflix dropped a teaser for the new Tekken animated series called Tekken: Bloodline.

The story of Bloodlines seems to be set after Tekken 2 but before Tekken 3, focusing on young Jin Kazama, his relationship with his mother Jun, and his quest to avenge her, which we see come to fruition in Tekken 3. 

This period of Tekken chronology didn't receive much coverage in the past. Most of the story was told through the game manual or brief recap cutscenes in future games. As such, Bloodlines has an excellent opportunity to explore Tekken's past.

Even from this short teaser, we can see that the show is made by people familiar with Tekken franchises. Characters stand in their recognizable stances, and the hit and block effects are inspired by Tekken Tag Tournament 2. We even see characters use attacks from their actual in-game movelist, for example, Heihachi blowing Jin away with his 1,1,2 string.

Curiously, the teaser also shows Leroy Smith, a character who was only introduced in Tekken 7 and doesn't have known ties to the general Tekken storyline. Whatever his role in the show might be, it will be interesting to see how the showrunners will tie it all together. The show is slated to come out sometime in 2022.