Directed by Yoshikazy Miyao, “Tekken: Bloodline” is a Netflix Original Series that was released on August 19th, 2022. The series is an anime adaptation of the game “Tekken” and has also adapted a more graphic novel animation style. The series is bringing back the style of the 90s animation as well as the comic style of western superheroes. It has much to offer. Although there is a certain lack of flow and fluidity in some of the animated scenes that makes them seem unnatural, it is a good watch. “Tekken: Bloodline” Season 1 gets interesting from the middle of the first episode and gets the interest hooked by the third episode. It leaves us with a lot of mysteries that will probably be solved in the coming seasons.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Tekken: Bloodline’ Plot Line: What Is The Animated Series About?
“Tekken: Bloodline” is an anime adaptation of “Tekken,” the game that follows the journey of a young boy named Jin Kazama as he is first trained by his mother, Jun Kazama, and later on trained by his grandfather, Heihachi Mishima. Jun Kazama trained Jin from the very beginning and taught him each and every style of the martial art known to the Kazamas. She taught him Kazama’s pacifism that was instilled in him and later helped him make better decisions. However, during a fight with local bullies, Jin’s power attracted an ogre that retreated after a huge blast set off by his mother, Jun. However, in the process, the blast is supposed to have claimed Jun’s life. Jin, on Jun’s order to not linger around the area anymore and to go to his grandfather, went to meet and train further under him. Heihachi trains Jin rigorously to make him a champion in the King’s tournament and also face the Ogre altogether. Jin becomes the King and defeats the Ogre, only to be betrayed by Heihachi. The first season ends with Jin flying away from the tournament after destroying Heihachi’s statue as an act of denouncing the Mishima family.
Did Jin Really Kill The True Ogre?
In the first episode, Jin Kazama lost his only family, his mother, to the attack of the Ogre. A green monster is almost impossible to kill with the Kazama fighting techniques. Jun, before fighting with the Ogre, had advised Jin to run away and find his grandfather, Heihachi Mishima, and train under him. However, when Jin noticed that his mother was in a false position and was getting defeated by the Ogre, he rushed into the battle to fight the Ogre. Jin got soundly defeated and knocked out by the Ogre and had come around to the sound of the explosion when he regained consciousness. Jun had led the Ogre toward her house, where she had already set up a booby trap to kill the Ogre. However, she is supposed to have lost her life due to the explosion and left Jin to fend for himself and find his grandfather. Jin then ventures out of his safe space to find his grandfather, Heihachi, in the city.
Upon introducing himself to Heihachi and informing him about the events, Heihachi immediately starts training Jin to compete in the battle to be the King and also earn his keep in the family. Heihachi trains him to be the absolute best of the present fighters. Before participating in the fights and during the fights, Jin gets to know that the Ogre has killed the original Tiger and that Heihachi has killed his father, Kazuya, in a fight. Jin then realizes his mother was also killed by the Ogre unleashed by Heihachi. Using this anger and frustration as fuel, Jin stands his ground against the Ogre with a little help from his friends and fellow fighters participating in the Battle of the Kings. He eventually defeats the Ogre, but the Ogre just recharges and becomes a True Ogre, which is the ultimate upgrade of the Ogre. Jin eventually defeats the True Ogre, only to be shot by his grandfather. He recovers due to the Devil Gene flowing inside him, courtesy of his father. Jin transforms and flies away from the tournament and the man he called his grandfather for some time.
Who was Kazuya Mishima? What Is The Devil Gene?
The first season of “Tekken: Bloodline” establishes the premises of the game adaptations. It does not go into detail about Kazuya Kazama except that he had the Devil Gene as well and that he was killed by his father, Heihachi, during their fight in the second tournament of the battle to be the King. Heihachi Mishima was humiliatingly defeated by his son, Kazuya, and was also thrown down the cliff. People described Kazuya as a cold and callous person who enjoyed humiliating people till the very end of the tournament to win the fight. In their second round, Heihachi defeats Kazuya and throws him into an active volcano, ultimately killing him.
This was due to the Devil Gene. Kazuya was most likely consumed by the Devil Gene, and he eventually gave in to its thirst, which made his madness consume him. The Devil Gene is essentially an abnormality found in genes. This abnormality can be termed as abnormal and helps a normal person turn into a fighting machine. Kazuya used this Devil Gene to bring down Heihachi during their fight, but in the process, he lost himself to madness. Heihachi is also referred to as a tyrant, and it is evident from the way he treated Jin. The Devil Gene, according to the Tekken Video Game archives, is actually found in the Hachijo bloodline. In the “Tekken: Bloodline,” it is unclear as to how Kazuya must have found himself possessing the gene. However, it is hereditary because Jin had eventually inherited the gene from Kazuya. So, either Kazuya must have been a part of the Hachijo bloodline through his mother or any other relation, or he must have sold his soul to the Devil to bring Heihachi’s tyranny down. However, during the second match between Kazuya and Heihachi, Kazuya must have utterly lost his mind, and somehow, Heihachi, after getting over the cliff fall due to his unnatural strength, was successful in killing Kazuya. Heihachi treats the incident as ridding the world of evil, but Kazuya had the power to overpower him immediately. For him to die easily at the hands of the person he tried to bring down is very suspicious and thus sets the premise for the second season.
Did Heihachi Die During The Fight With Jun Kazama?
Heihachi Mishima was the main reason behind Jun Kazama’s “death.” Heihachi set the Ogre out, and due to his team’s creating a prison that could control the Ogre, he set it on the Kazamas. From the very beginning, Heihachi’s questions to Jin about his whereabouts during the Ogre’s attack, as well as what he was doing before it led up to the moment, were very suspicious. Heihachi must have realized that Kazuya had a son, and that son was technically learning and gaining more power day by day. Heihachi had sent the Ogre to confirm Jin’s power and also rid him of any weaknesses that may hold him back. Once Jin had contacted Heihachi on his mother’s orders, Heihachi began his training. He trained Jin to become the best fighter the Mishima’s had to offer so that he could unlock his potential.
After succeeding in training him to be the best, Jin gained the title of King and also the knowledge behind his mother’s suspicious death. He understood that Heihachi was behind the entire ordeal, which was something Heihachi had been dropping a lot of hints about since he first met him. Heihachi made sure that Jin would face the Ogre, and his suspicions about Jin inheriting the Devil Gene would be cleared. However, Jin retained his sanity while defeating the Ogre and also its true form, the True Ogre. Therefore, Heihachi shot him to give him an extra push to see if the Devil Gene finally takes its roots in the boy. Jin wakes up fully transformed, and his wound is healed. He then attacks Heihachi for everything he was put through and also to avenge his mother. However, Jin never kills him and opts to throw him aside and fly away from the scene after destroying Heihachi’s statue out of anger. If the shot didn’t kill Jin and only served to bring out the Devil Gene, that’d also mean Kazuya is not dead. But surviving an active volcano is not an easy feat. The next season might have more answers regarding these mysteries.
‘Tekken: Bloodline’ Season 1: Ending Explained – Is Jun Kazama Dead? Will There Be A Season 2?
The most puzzling question that the first season left us with was the fact of whether Jun Kazama actually died in that explosion. The audience and Jin are led to believe that she is dead. However, during that explosion, there was a flash of green light that had transmitted from the Ogre. It could so happen that because the Ogre was holding Jun tightly during the entire ordeal and Jun had tightly secured the Ogre in a Judo position, willing to sacrifice her just to kill the Ogre. However, the flash of green light might have transported both of them before the cylinders had exploded. Because the Ogre that Jin fought against was the same Ogre fighting for his mother. Therefore, there is a chance that Jun Kazama might be alive. Although she does seem to be missing, Heihachi might have a clue to where she is. These mysteries can only be solved in “Tekken: Bloodline” Season 2. Heihachi must have simply led Jin on, so that he succeeded in becoming the greatest fighter alive, so that he could prepare to take on other evil beings yet to come.
Heihachi is clearly the antagonist in “Tekken: Bloodline” Season 1. He keeps the Ogre under his control, but it cannot be denied that in that universe, there might be worse creatures that Jin has to stand his ground against and fight to save the world. Either Heihachi could be a tyrant ready to prey on other people’s weaknesses, or he could be a mentor using their weaknesses to train his successors harder and ensure they have no weaknesses left. His training methods involve pushing the others to achieve what he believes they are capable of. He must be training Jin to expect the worst and also to expect betrayal from within his own family. This is a mystery only his backstory may be able to solve. This first season really sets the expectations higher for the next season to come.
“Tekken: Bloodline” is a 2022 Animated Action Series directed by Yoshikazy Miyao.
