areaseven Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Tekken: Blood Vengeance (鉄拳 ブラッド・ベンジェンス) Digital Frontier/Namco Pictures/Asmik-Ace Entertainment, 2011 Bandai Entertainment, 2011 Directed by Yoichi Mori Based upon characters from the best-selling Tekken video game series by Namco Bandai Running Time: 92 minutes Rated PG-13 for martial arts violence and mild language. Cast (Japanese) Maaya Sakamoto (Hitomi in Escaflowne, Lunamaria in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny) as Ling Xiaoyu Yuki Matsuoka (Osaka in Azumanga Daioh, Nana in Elfen Lied) as Alisa Bosconovitch Mamoru Miyano (Light in Death Note, Setsuna in Mobile Suit Gundam 00) as Shin Kamiya Ishhin Chiba (Chiba in Detective Conan) as Jin Kazama Masanori Shinohara as Kazuya Mishima Unshou Ishizuka (Guld in Macross Plus, Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop) as Heihachi Mishima Akeno Watanabe (Witch Hunter Robin, Chachamaru in Mahou Sensei Negima!) as Anna Williams Atsuko Tanaka (Motoko in Ghost in the Shell, Claudette in Queen's Blade) as Nina Wiliams Ryotaru Okiayu (Treize in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Rai in Super Robot Taisen OG) as Lee Chaolan Hidenari Ugaki (Argo in Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Fujimasa in Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki) as Ganryu Taketora (Gouki/Akuma in Street Fighter IV) as Panda Cast (English) Carrie Keranen (Cutie Honey, Caska in Berserk) as Ling Xiaoyu Christina Vee (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Kanaria in Rozen Maiden) as Alisa Bosconovitch David Vincent (Van in GUNxSWORD, Assassin in Fate/stay night) as Shin Kamiya Darren Daniels as Jin Kazama Kyle Hebert (Gohan in Dragon Ball Z, Ryu in Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind) as Kazuya Mishima Jamieson Price (Chad in Bleach, Duke Red in Metropolis) as Heihachi Mishima Tara Platt (Barasuishou in Rozen Maiden, Temari in Naruto) as Anna Williams Mary McGlynn (Motoko in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Julia in Cowboy Bebop) as Nina Williams and Mokujin Kaiji Tang (Shiro in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha) as Lee Chaolan George C. Cole (Burning in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Jan in Flag) as Ganryu Synopsis High school student Ling Xiaoyu is recruited by Anna Williams of G Corporation to transfer to Kyoto University and gather information on a student named Shin Kamiya. Meanwhile, Jin Kazama, the current head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, sends Alisa Bosconovitch to the university for the same mission. Though they do not know each other's true motives, Xiaoyu and Alisa become close friends. However, their friendship is put to the test when Shin is captured by an unknown assailant. Story: D+ To say that Tekken: Blood Vengeance is better than the live-action Tekken movie is like saying the sun rises and sets everyday. But that's about it, as the storyline is nothing but filler between the games Tekken 5 and Tekken 6. It's obvious that the production team spent more time on the artwork than the story, as the pacing is shoddy and Shin is simply wasted throughout the film. And for a fighting game movie, there really isn't a lot of fighting, especially when the two main characters have only one match. The final battle between the Mishima triad (Heihachi, Kazuya and JIn) feels forced and has practically nothing to do with the fighting element of Tekken. Given that it was written by Dai Sato, who was best known for writing episodes of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Cowboy Bebop, you would've expected something within the same caliber. Animation: B+ Without a doubt, the CG animation is pure eye candy, but it's no different from the cutscenes of your typical PS2 or PS3-era Tekken video game. And just like Resident Evil: Degeneration, you have the sudden urge to pick up your game controller. The character designs are typical Tekken fare, but for a robot, Alisa looks livelier than most of the characters. Soundtrack: C The film uses a generic synthesizer orchestral BGM, which is hardly noticeable throughout the film. It's pretty disappointing that Namco Bandai did not use any techno music that's synonymous with the game series. Sub vs. Dub The English dub by Bang Zoom! Entertainment is fairly competent, but their scripts do not match the characters' mouth movements, resulting in a pretty cheesy dub presentation that's not as funny as a cheap kung-fu movie. The Bottom Line It's Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children all over again with all filler and no punch. Stick to the video games instead. Links Bandai Entertainment's Official Tekken: Blood Vengeance Homepage References Anime News Network Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myk Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Yeah thanks for posting this; this dvd's been calling to me from the shelves at Wal*Mart. Thankfully, I can now easily choose to buy Thundercats 2011 season 1 instead... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegablue Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Still watch it for the Animation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GU-11 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Watched it a while ago, and I've come to the same conclusion as you, areaseven. Eye candy, not much of a plot, and pretty much filler between Tekken 5 and 6. What pisses me off is that they didn't set the story on the one character I'd like to know more about: Lars Alexanderson. This dude just pops out of nowhere in Tekken 6, claiming to be the son of Heihachi [with blonde hair and totally Caucasian features? WTF?]. Blood Vengeance could have delved into his background and fleshed him out more. But no, instead they decided to take us on a diversionary ride with a brand new character who was totally wasted in the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegablue Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 They could of used the production for a Soul Calibur film instead of more Tekken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GU-11 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 They could of used the production for a Soul Calibur film instead of more Tekken. They probably figured Tekken is more popular than Soul Calibur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omegablue Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 They probably figured Tekken is more popular than Soul Calibur. Without a doubt. But for me Soul Calibur is more appealing, and after Tekken and MK, it's there worldwide as a fighting game. I prefer the whole magical/fantasy set up, than a bunch of immortal supermodels that can't dress and don't know what to do with their money. But also Namco doesn't really market SC like Tekken... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GU-11 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Without a doubt. But for me Soul Calibur is more appealing, and after Tekken and MK, it's there worldwide as a fighting game. I prefer the whole magical/fantasy set up, than a bunch of immortal supermodels that can't dress and don't know what to do with their money. But also Namco doesn't really market SC like Tekken... Hahah, "immortal supermodels that can't dress" is right! I mean, they dress Alisa up like she's a theme park attraction, and expect her to blend in?! And don't get me started with Anna and her "flapper" outfits. As for Soul Calibur, I do agree that it's got a much richer story and premise to explore than Tekken. To me at least, the whole evil sword/good sword thing, while cliche, is better than the convoluted mess that is the Tekken continuity. I also find the characters more interesting, more fleshed out [literally and figuratively ] and ironically more believable than Tekken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikuro Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 There's just something about the animation to these CG productions that just bug me considerably. The characters motions just feel so unnatural and forced compared to 2D animation or live action. That was something for me that made it difficult to watch Resident Evil Degeneration. So after watching bits and pieces of Tekken I've felt the same thing about this film as well. Regardless if Cristina is in it, it's just not something I can really tolerate to watch. Sorry cristina!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myk Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 There's just something about the animation to these CG productions that just bug me considerably. The characters motions just feel so unnatural and forced compared to 2D animation or live action. I felt the same way about the DOA video games; they were trying so hard to emulate big beautiful mouth watering bouncy breasts that the motions became laughable. Hell, in the second DOA volleyball game you had boobs bouncing and rotating independent of the other lol. Those crazy game designers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry the lone wolf Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 I was looking for mindless violence & little plot so it delivered for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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