Why Jun Kazama’s Appearance in the Tekken 8 Trailer is a Big Deal
In the newest Tekken 8 trailer shown at The Game Awards 2022, Jun Kazama was revealed to be alive after, and this is a big deal for fans of the franchise. Let’s dissect this specific part of the reveal, shall we?
Who is Jun Kazama?
Jun Kazama is a character in the Tekken video game series. She made her first appearance in Tekken 2 and has appeared in several subsequent games in the series. She is a strong, independent woman who is known for her ability to sense evil and combat it with her powerful fighting skills. She is a practitioner of Kazama-style traditional martial arts, a fighting style that was passed down through her family for generations.
She was born and raised in the Kazama family, a family of martial artists who were dedicated to protecting their village from evil spirits. As a child, Jun was trained in the Kazama style by her father, who was the current master of the style. However, Jun’s father was killed by an evil spirit, leaving Jun to continue her training on her own.
Despite her young age, Jun Kazama proved to be a skilled and powerful fighter. She entered the King of Iron Fist Tournament in order to test her abilities and protect her village from evil. At some point, she had a child with Kazuya Mishima named Jin Kazama. The father and son duo are expected to duke it out as it is the main plot point of Tekken 8 after Heihachi was supposedly killed off.
So Is She Supposed to be Dead?
Prior to the events of Tekken 3, she was supposedly killed by Ogre as the creature was seeking out strong fighters, similar to Akuma from Street Fighter, except seemingly more ruthless. Her last canonical appearance in the franchise was in Tekken 2 back in 1995, with her latest appearance being on Tekken Tag Tournament 2 in 2011 where she transforms into the mysterious Unknown, which isn’t canon.
With the latest Tekken 8 trailer, many fan theories have been proven true as Jun Kazama is indeed alive. As for how, that is expected to be revealed in the game when it’s out. However, there are some interesting things we’ve learned from a recent interview with game director Katsuhiro Harada.
What We Can Expect in Tekken 8
For starters, Jun Kazama is expected to play a more direct role in the conflict between Kazuya and Jin, which suggests that we’re not revisiting the past like with Kazumi Mishima in Tekken 7. Furthermore, her ability to cleanse evil and neutralize the Devil Gene is said to be one of the key points in the game’s storyline. This potentially points at her doing some level of harm to Jin when he was enveloped in white light in the trailer, but this is purely speculation.
Harada-san has also mentioned that the white bird landing on Jun’s hand in the trailer has a double meaning. One being a nod to her backstory in Tekken 2 as she was handling a wildlife preservation program prior to meeting Kazuya. The other is ingrained in Asian culture, where skilled martial artists can hide their fighting spirit to appear safe to animal and end up attracting them. Therefore, it shows how she’s one with nature while still being a strong fighter.
We can’t say for sure if this will truly mark the end of the longest main storyline in the franchise, as they could always save the true final fight between the last two remaining people with the cursed “Devil Gene”. One thing’s for sure, with Jun Kazama now accounted for, we can expect some major plot twists in store for us in Tekken 8, especially to cover up loopholes with her supposed death as it’s hard to imagine her leaving her own son to fend for himself at just 15 years old.
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