The Tekken franchise has always had a special place in my heart. Even though I had just briefly played the original, my experience with it truly started with the universally-loved Tekken 3. I’ve never become so quickly enamored by a game as when I saw the third entry at my local arcade, and instantly fell in love with the visuals and what is probably still my favorite video game soundtrack.

It should go without saying that I was keenly interested in Tekken: Bloodline when it was announced earlier this year at the third Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable. Making an anime about the series would already have me on board, but basing it on Tekken 3 and spending some time to focus on the protagonist and his key relationships that never had any time to shine, makes it feel like it was made to target me specifically.

Let’s start with the one thing everyone will wonder before going into this. When it comes to the dubs my recommendation is to watch the Japanese dub with English subtitles if needed. I usually wouldn’t have a preference, and the English dub does have an advantage in that it’s the original and the lip animations match it. Nonetheless, it still comes across as stilted with some strange pausing.

The Japanese dub on the other hand uses a lot of the same Japanese voice actors from the games. Some of them are even returning to voice the characters again after the series began using native languages starting in Tekken 4 and Tekken 5. It’ll sound more natural to fans and likely more pleasant for non-fans too.

Those fans who already played this game when it came out 25 years ago likely know the story already. A very brief synopsis for those who haven’t is that it follows Jin Kazama and his quest for revenge against Ogre, a monstrous being who some have dubbed a God of Fighting. To better prepare himself he seeks out his grandfather Heihachi Mishima. All of this culminates in a large fighting tournament meant to lure out the monster. Yet, much of that is glossed over in Tekken 3 and only serves as background information to set up the tournament.

Tekken: Bloodline differs by making great use of its medium and developing Jin as a character. Half of the series is spent leading up to the tournament and building him up with character relationships and internal conflicts. Two key aspects are his relationships with his mother and grandfather, and it’s very satisfying to finally see them and to see them expressed well.

Naturally, along with some gaps being filled, there are some changes to make it all more cohesive. The biggest is that the tournament entirely takes place in one central area, as you would expect most tournaments to be held, instead of being a bunch of random fights all over the world. It also allows for all of the characters to be in one location and interact with each other. From the ones that have a small history already, to those who have barely been placed together if ever at all, every character interaction is a fun and welcome sight.

I only wish there were more fights or at least more variety in who is seen fighting. The tournament is set to look like a large one with a lot of participants, but we just see Jin’s fights and a few others. Only a couple of other fights are mentioned in passing, and a lot of fighters are relegated as blink-and-you-miss-it character cameos. It’s unfortunate because I do love the narrative elements and how some characters have more nuance to them than their game counterparts. At the same time, it’s impossible for me to not think they missed a lot of opportunities to show more of these characters doing what they do best.

What makes that feeling even more pronounced are the fight scenes themselves. Those scenes need to be presented well, and thankfully it all manages to work out. Between the wonderful camera usage and CG models, each fight proves to be entertaining. There’s plenty of influence from what it’s based on as well, with many attacks having huge hit sparks, and so much of the fight choreography using the moves these characters are known for. I certainly can’t forget to mention the music taking some slight cues from that familiar 1990s electronic sound too.

Unfortunately, the visuals aren’t always great. Every once in a while in the middle of a fight scene the CG models look awkward. I noticed it a lot more outside of the fight scenes and that’s likely due to how much better they look when they’re moving quickly.

The absolute worst part of the visuals, however, is the persistent and unnatural triangle shadow that’s present on every character. This aspect of the otherwise stellar shading very rarely manages to look good and usually looks so off-putting and out of place that I couldn’t help but notice. Compounding this issue is how wildly inconsistent it is, as I could never pinpoint any rules on how this unorthodox style was being used.

At first glance, the shadow seems to just appear over their heads no matter if they were facing the camera or looking away. Then I noticed that it was typically tilted and could change its tilt from scene to scene. The direction of the shadow also varied between pointing upwards and pointing along the direction of a character’s body. This was most noticeable when someone was lying on the ground or being thrown. Even the length was inconsistent with some shadows barely covering a face and others far extending past a character’s head. I’m not sure if there’s anything good I can say about it.

Any fans of the series will likely find something they enjoy here though. Whether it’s the familiar moves or favorite characters having a lot more of a personality, Tekken: Bloodline is a fun watch if you want to binge something short on Netflix. Those who aren’t watching as fans might feel a little lost at times, although it’s obvious that they’ve tried to provide enough narrative for the important characters to keep anyone watching invested in the fights.

Despite the fact that there aren’t any major plot elements here that we’ll see going forward for the games, barring a popular fan theory that this series still seems to entertain, the focus on Jin does feel appropriate. Tekken 6 and Tekken 7 both featured more extensive story content than their predecessors, but in both cases, Jin wasn’t the focus. That’s set to change in the upcoming Tekken 8 though, so it should be good to put him in the mind of those interested in the next entry.

Tekken: Bloodline

7.5

Score

7.5/10

Pros

• Fight Scenes Respect the Source Material
• Fleshes Out Characters Better Than the Games
• Original Japanese Voice Actors

Cons

• Inconsistent and Off-Putting Shading Style
• CG Models Can Look Awkward
• Not Enough Fights/Character Variety
• English Dub Sounds Stilted