This was absolute dogwater. Even coming from someone who HAS played the Tekken games, the story in the OVA is completely incomprehensible and doesn’t even bother developing the characters or making you care about any of them. Piss poor animation and an even shittier dub with American music spread all over it, regardless of whether it fits the tone or not. Everything ADV tried with this, the Street Fighter II localization did SO MUCH BETTER (and let’s face it, it kicks ass any which way you watch it, English or original Japanese cut). The soundtrack fit the tone of their respective scenes, and the actual movie itself was EONS better.

But hey, at least the tape only cost me 50 cents at a thrift store, because I wasn’t paying $20 for a used copy off of eBay.

This was absolute dogwater. Even coming from someone who HAS played the Tekken games, the story in the OVA is completely incomprehensible and doesn’t even bother developing the characters or making you care about any of them. Piss poor animation and an even shittier dub with American music spread all over it, regardless of whether it fits the tone or not. Everything ADV tried with this, the Street Fighter II localization did SO MUCH BETTER (and let’s face it, it kicks ass any which way you watch it, English or original Japanese cut). The soundtrack fit the tone of their respective scenes, and the actual movie itself was EONS better.

But hey, at least the tape only cost me 50 cents at a thrift store, because I wasn’t paying $20 for a used copy off of eBay.

This was absolute dogwater. Even coming from someone who HAS played the Tekken games, the story in the OVA is completely incomprehensible and doesn’t even bother developing the characters or making you care about any of them. Piss poor animation and an even shittier dub with American music spread all over it, regardless of whether it fits the tone or not. Everything ADV tried with this, the Street Fighter II localization did SO MUCH BETTER (and let’s face it, it kicks ass any which way you watch it, English or original Japanese cut). The soundtrack fit the tone of their respective scenes, and the actual movie itself was EONS better.

But hey, at least the tape only cost me 50 cents at a thrift store, because I wasn’t paying $20 for a used copy off of eBay.

This was absolute dogwater. Even coming from someone who HAS played the Tekken games, the story in the OVA is completely incomprehensible and doesn’t even bother developing the characters or making you care about any of them. Piss poor animation and an even shittier dub with American music spread all over it, regardless of whether it fits the tone or not. Everything ADV tried with this, the Street Fighter II localization did SO MUCH BETTER (and let’s face it, it kicks ass any which way you watch it, English or original Japanese cut). The soundtrack fit the tone of their respective scenes, and the actual movie itself was EONS better.

But hey, at least the tape only cost me 50 cents at a thrift store, because I wasn’t paying $20 for a used copy off of eBay.

💽OBSCURE FILM REVIEW💽
Martial Arts Marathon List -> CLICK HERE!
———————————————————————————

Look, I’m a big Tekken. I’ve been playing the games since I was a kid. But generally speaking this film is pretty bad & doesn’t hold a candle to the Street Fighter animations. I blame most of this films issues on the budget. That’s why it fails on most technical levels. Mostly the acting, sound design, odd music, fight choreography & some of the animation leaves much to be desired. The story is near perfect but even then. I don’t know if I can even give that to the films benefit due to the fact it’s just the story of the first two Tekken games. The dialogue ranges from wooden to actually good. But, due to the voice actors it’s hard to appreciate the good animation in some scenes or intensity built up due to mostly the script. Especially the final act & confrontation. All the scenes in volcanos or on cliffs with the Mishima clan in the Tekken games are monumental. They’re monarchs in the story of the characters each being an iconic scene. This however felt a bit laughable in its attempt at a dramatic conclusion due to the sheer intolerability of the voice acting which before made me laugh. Like most old anime dubs. But in that moment. I don’t know. It just made me a bit pissed off due to the fact such an important scene was ruined. Same goes for sound design. I could make better sound design in my 10 year old short films. It’s just the standard stock punch & explosion affects we’re all well used to by now. With a much bigger budget this film could’ve been one of the best video game Ovas ever. But it’s lack of budget made it so they had to be play random rock music over every scene & even in the final battle. The final battle which apparently as far as we knew at the time MURDERED this character. The main villain of the story. Had rap music which sounded like it came straight from Samurai Champloo playing softy in the background. However, I have to say the animation in the final battle is done really well. & for the most part characters & locations are draw nicely. Except Kazuya. But the fight scenes are so wooden. & I’m even talking by retro anime standards. I’m very much used to the fight scenes in 70’s-90’s anime trust me. & I know they aren’t going to be pulling any One Punch Man magic at us. But, I expect at least something above this shit lol. Especially for a game known for its MARTIAL ARTS. This film from beginning to end is full of weird shit but at the end of the day. Despite its mediocrity. I found myself enjoying most of it. The story kept me going, the characters kept me going & certainly the hilarious voice acting at times made some scenes more enjoyable. This is a perfect demonstration of how a script can take a film a long way. But not the full way. I walked into this expecting a mediocre anime with terrible voice acting that would keep my attention going. My expectations were met & I generally walked out satisfied in a strange way.

6/10 - Mediocre but Fun.

💽OBSCURE FILM REVIEW💽
Martial Arts Marathon List -> CLICK HERE!
———————————————————————————

Look, I’m a big Tekken. I’ve been playing the games since I was a kid. But generally speaking this film is pretty bad & doesn’t hold a candle to the Street Fighter animations. I blame most of this films issues on the budget. That’s why it fails on most technical levels. Mostly the acting, sound design, odd music, fight choreography & some of the animation leaves much to be desired. The story is near perfect but even then. I don’t know if I can even give that to the films benefit due to the fact it’s just the story of the first two Tekken games. The dialogue ranges from wooden to actually good. But, due to the voice actors it’s hard to appreciate the good animation in some scenes or intensity built up due to mostly the script. Especially the final act & confrontation. All the scenes in volcanos or on cliffs with the Mishima clan in the Tekken games are monumental. They’re monarchs in the story of the characters each being an iconic scene. This however felt a bit laughable in its attempt at a dramatic conclusion due to the sheer intolerability of the voice acting which before made me laugh. Like most old anime dubs. But in that moment. I don’t know. It just made me a bit pissed off due to the fact such an important scene was ruined. Same goes for sound design. I could make better sound design in my 10 year old short films. It’s just the standard stock punch & explosion affects we’re all well used to by now. With a much bigger budget this film could’ve been one of the best video game Ovas ever. But it’s lack of budget made it so they had to be play random rock music over every scene & even in the final battle. The final battle which apparently as far as we knew at the time MURDERED this character. The main villain of the story. Had rap music which sounded like it came straight from Samurai Champloo playing softy in the background. However, I have to say the animation in the final battle is done really well. & for the most part characters & locations are draw nicely. Except Kazuya. But the fight scenes are so wooden. & I’m even talking by retro anime standards. I’m very much used to the fight scenes in 70’s-90’s anime trust me. & I know they aren’t going to be pulling any One Punch Man magic at us. But, I expect at least something above this shit lol. Especially for a game known for its MARTIAL ARTS. This film from beginning to end is full of weird shit but at the end of the day. Despite its mediocrity. I found myself enjoying most of it. The story kept me going, the characters kept me going & certainly the hilarious voice acting at times made some scenes more enjoyable. This is a perfect demonstration of how a script can take a film a long way. But not the full way. I walked into this expecting a mediocre anime with terrible voice acting that would keep my attention going. My expectations were met & I generally walked out satisfied in a strange way.

6/10 - Mediocre but Fun.