Hello and welcome to Wasted Plotential, where we discuss the wasted potential of our favourite
plotlines.
I asked on Twitter what series I should cover next and Tekken won the vote. I originally
planned to talk about Steve Fox, but once Asuka was suggested, I felt she had the more
obviously wasted storyline. So, she goes first.
Asuka Kazama is the cousin of series protagonist Jin Kazama, introduced in Tekken 5 as the
inheritor of the Kazama style moveset from her Aunt Jun, who has been missing and presumed
dead since Tekken 3. Much like Batwoman, Asuka's existence does raise the question of, if the
hero has extended family through his mother's brother, including a female cousin his own
age, why is he not sent to live with them when his parents die? Jesus, what is this,
Parallel Plots? But let's put that very important question aside and focus on Asuka's narrative.
Asuka's story, initially, centred on her desire to avenge her father's hospitalisation at
the hands of Feng Wei, who was going around and beating up the heads of various dojos.
In her story mode, she succeeded and then faced off with Jinpachi Mishima, who had just
beaten down Devil Jin. After killing the man in cold blood, Asuka rushed over to help Jin,
unwittingly reverting him to his human form with her latent Kazama purification, first
introduced in Jun's Tekken Tag Tournament ending. In his confusion, Jin accidentally
fell onto her chest and she punched him out. It's dumb anime shenanigans, yes, but it establishes
that Asuka has inherited this power, which will be useful as her cousin is dealing with
his inner darkness.
Tekken 6 then revealed that not only had Asuka not encountered Jinpachi or Jin during the
previous game, but she didn't even find Feng Wei. Instead, she just went home once the
tournament ended, having accomplished nothing. She later learned that Jin is her cousin,
because he started waging war with the entire world. With Jin's descent into villainy, the
Kazama healing power was needed now more than ever. So, what did the writers do with Asuka?
They had her set her sights on her cousin to try and put a stop to his villainy, only
to get embroiled in yet another pointless rivalry that goes nowhere with Lili, which
isn't even a new idea because it's basically Sakura and Karin's rivalry, but without the
mutual respect that makes theirs interesting.
Tekken 7 then had her fight Lili again.
Fighting game rivalries, especially the serious ones, have a tendency to stagnate or be cancelled
outright because it can only end with one character killing the other. See Nina vs Anna
and Yoshimitsu vs Bryan as respective examples. So, it's seriously upsetting to see this very
spunky character with such an obvious tie-in to the central narrative being locked up in
rivalry prison and not being allowed to do anything.
Despite being the cousin of the series' main character, Asuka's never had the chance to
be in the spotlight, making one wonder why they even bothered to make her related to
him in the first place. This could be because the games after her debut focus on Lars and
Heihachi respectively, but Jin was 6's main antagonist, so there's really no excuse there.
7 gets a pass because Jin's in a coma the whole time, which could probably justify an
episode all on its own.
So, let's consider what could have been done with Asuka, had the story not devolved into
generic fanfiction and left her in the fighting game equivalent of a passionless, sexless
marriage with Lili.
In Tekken 6, Asuka learns that the new head of the Mishima Zaibatsu waging war with the
world is her cousin, the son of her Aunt Jun, who has been presumed dead for six years.
Asuka thinks that Jin's abandonment by their family, leaving him to be taken in by his
morally questionable grandfather who is now also presumed dead, is the reason for his
downfall. Feeling the responsibility to redeem her family personally, and also wanting to
stop this war he's waging, Asuka sets out to put a stop to Jin's villainy, by force
if she has to.
We'll say that Asuka did fight Feng Wei in the fifth tournament, but lost. Jin then beat
Feng, setting the stakes for her battle with a clearly superior opponent. Beating him in
a fight is fairly unlikely, but she might be able to end the fight with a plea to his
humanity.
She tries to get to Jin early on, but his security stops her. She tries to fight her
way through and Jin notes that her fighting style mirrors his mother's. As such, he quickly
realises she's a Kazama and takes the time to speak with her briefly. As Jin isn't actually
evil and is using this war for the greater good, he tries to discourage her from pursuing
him so that she doesn't become a target for his enemies or get caught up in the war. She's
stubborn and won't be dissuaded, so he fights her and beats her in hopes of sending a message
that she just can't win. She loses and is forced to leave.
From here, she joins up with other characters looking to end the conflict or defeat Jin
or Kazuya, like Zafina, Miguel, Leo, and Julia. They make a united effort to defeat the two,
bringing in a few other characters without a specific motive for fighting them, like
Yoshimitsu and Jinrei, expanding their roster until they can pose a genuine threat. During
this time, Asuka trains under Jinrei, who knows the Mishima style's weaknesses from
his friendship with Jinpachi, and also explains to her the history of the cursed Mishima bloodline.
She's now better prepared for the next fight with Jin.
The group goes after Kazuya first. Asuka is captured by Anna on Kazuya's behalf, hoping
to use Jin's cousin against him as either a tool or a bargaining chip. Regardless, she's
brought by Kazuya to the site where he will fight Jin. Lars then shows up to have his
fight with Kazuya. Asuka escapes in the confusion and comes across Jin. They have a rematch
before Lars is done with Kazuya.
This time, Asuka is more of a match for Jin, allowing her to keep up and try to get through
to him. He wants her to leave because he can feel the devil energy emanating from Azazel,
who is about to reawaken, as per Jin's plan. Asuka refuses, and the fight continues as
Jin's mind is bombarded by Azazel's taunting of Jin's actions proving he's lost his humanity,
which has been on his mind since he started down this path. Eventually, Jin is overwhelmed
and becomes Devil Jin. Asuka doesn't do nearly as well against Jin's powered-up inner darkness,
who beats her soundly. However, she keeps talking, emboldening Jin to fight for control
from within. She gets close enough to put a hand on his shoulder, unwittingly using
her power for the first time in the canon. Jin is restored to his human form and thanks
Asuka for helping him to find his humanity again. He then employs an anime stomach punch
to knock her out and has Nina carry her away, saying goodbye to Nina as well. Then, Lars
shows up and the scene plays out largely the same as in the game.
In Tekken 7, Asuka has been taken home by Nina, who explains Jin's plan to her instead
of Lars. If anyone deserves to be in the triumvirate of those in the know, I'd say it's Asuka,
not Lars. Asuka then forces her way into the group helping the comatose Jin, possibly alongside
Xiaoyu. She is then ready to play her part in helping Jin finally put an end to Kazuya's
villainy in Tekken 8. Of course, she's figured out that he plans to fully end the Mishima
bloodline by killing himself at the end, and she has a plan to stop him from doing so.
The issue with Asuka is similar to the issue with Irene in modern Ninja Gaiden. You have
the setup for a really significant character, but nothing is done with her, making one wonder
why they even bothered. The protagonist's cousin should be really fucking important,
but nah, mate, we have to make room for Harada's favourite character and make him sympathetic
despite how he's tried to murder basically every member of his family. Seriously starting
to see some parallels to MK here.
Tekken 8 desperately needs to bring back Jun and explain what became of her (maybe tying
into the Unknown stuff from the Tag Tournament games), bring Asuka into the central narrative
as an ally or obstacle for Jin's conflict with Kazuya, and bring final resolution to
Jin's family situation, which should have been resolved in 7 since it touted itself
as the end of the Mishima Saga, as if Kazuya's son doesn't count because he doesn't carry
the name. Even thought the central narrative is about the bloodline of the Mishima family,
and half the series' subtitles are edgy names about blood.
What the hell happened to this series, man? Seriously?
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Today's recommended video is History Behind the Warrior's video on Asuka because there's
fuck all else to shill. Where the hell are all the Tekken fans on YouTube?