Tekken: Bloodline, Netflix’s upcoming anime series based on the long-running fighting game franchise, got a new trailer on Monday. The story takes place during the events of Tekken 3 and follows Jin Kazama as he enters the King of Iron Fist Tournament on a quest for revenge.
After Jun Kazama (Jin’s mother) is seemingly killed by Ogre, Jin turns to his grandfather, the infamous Heihachi Mishima, for help with his training. Heihachi instructs Jin to “purge the Kazama pacifism and stoke your Mishima fire” in order to achieve his goal. To find Ogre, Jin then enters the King of Iron Fist tournament, which showcases many Tekken series favorites, including King, Nina, Paul, and Hwoarang. Although he’s not part of the Tekken 3 roster, Kazuya Mishima (Jin’s father) also makes an appearance.
Netflix has largely been on a roll with its video game adaptations in the last several years. Its Castlevania animated series was a huge success, and Parrot Analytics ranks its viewership demand as being in the top 2.7% of television shows in the United States. Similarly, Netflix’s The Witcher series was ranked third (behind only Stranger Things and The Mandalorian) in the country for viewership demand at its debut.
Unfortunately, Resident Evil (Netflix’s most recent video game adaptation) seems to have broken this stellar streak by garnering largely negative reviews.
The Tekken series began back in 1994 as a fighting arcade game. The series has gone on to produce seven main-entry titles and additional spin-offs. As of November 2021, the Tekken franchise has sold over 53 million units. This makes it the third best-selling fighting game franchise of all time, behind Mortal Kombat (73 million) and Super Smash Bros. (66 million).
Tekken: Bloodline launches exclusively on Netflix on August 18.