If there's any of the old generation character that I tend to have a soft spot for -- it's actually Jun Kazama. There's really a jarring time jump between Tekken 2 and Tekken 3 of 20 years and it's presumed that Jun was just killed by Ogre or somehow -- Namco hasn't even released an official statement what happened to her. In canon, Jun only appeared once and I mean once and that's Tekken 2. She only appeared in non-canon such as the Tekken Tag Tournament games.
Now, I'd like to really raise up just how important is Jun in Tekken? If you remember Tekken 2's roster and who were killed or no longer appeared before Tekken 3 arrived -- you have King I (who was replaced by King II), Kuma I died of old age, Michelle Chang and well even Yoshimitsu's rival Kunimitsu just disappeared without a trace within canon. Jun is no different yet has Namco really considered her importance?
If there's any real "main protagonist" of Tekken 2 -- it's Jun! Okay, it was Heihachi who won but he only entered the tournament to defeat Kazuya out of their crazy family blood feud. It was Jun who actually joined the tournament with the pure motive of arresting Kazuya. At the same time, she was actually trying to save him from the Devil within -- something that wasn't revealed to be from the Hachijo clan in Tekken 7. She was bold and fearless. She ran into Kazuya and how they produced Kazuya is unknown. Yet, I'd like to believe that Kazuya actually violated or raped her though that plot was only from the lame Tekken movie that deserves Katsuhiro Harada's bashing. However, Harada seems to affirm that Jun wasn't raped and that she had a rapport with Kazuya somewhere in time. She was trying to save Kazuya but failed.
Her importance lives beyond the video games for this reason -- she's also the mother of Jin Kazama! The time jump between Tekken 2 and 3 gave a lot of events that I believe should have been put into comic form. One of them should explore how she raised her only (and illegitimate) child Jin though why she never knew how evil Heihachi was something. She soon sensed the strong presence of Ogre and told Jin to seek out Heihachi should something happen to her. Why she didn't know Heihachi was a villain was something. I guess Heihachi's "good guy facade" was more effective than Kazuya's "be evil and be straight with it" approach with running the Zaibatsu.
If there's any real "main protagonist" of Tekken 2 -- it's Jun! Okay, it was Heihachi who won but he only entered the tournament to defeat Kazuya out of their crazy family blood feud. It was Jun who actually joined the tournament with the pure motive of arresting Kazuya. At the same time, she was actually trying to save him from the Devil within -- something that wasn't revealed to be from the Hachijo clan in Tekken 7. She was bold and fearless. She ran into Kazuya and how they produced Kazuya is unknown. Yet, I'd like to believe that Kazuya actually violated or raped her though that plot was only from the lame Tekken movie that deserves Katsuhiro Harada's bashing. However, Harada seems to affirm that Jun wasn't raped and that she had a rapport with Kazuya somewhere in time. She was trying to save Kazuya but failed.
Her importance lives beyond the video games for this reason -- she's also the mother of Jin Kazama! The time jump between Tekken 2 and 3 gave a lot of events that I believe should have been put into comic form. One of them should explore how she raised her only (and illegitimate) child Jin though why she never knew how evil Heihachi was something. She soon sensed the strong presence of Ogre and told Jin to seek out Heihachi should something happen to her. Why she didn't know Heihachi was a villain was something. I guess Heihachi's "good guy facade" was more effective than Kazuya's "be evil and be straight with it" approach with running the Zaibatsu.
She's suddenly presumed dead before Tekken 3 began. Tekken 4 made a reference to her in Jin's ending. Jin would have nearly killed his paternal grandfather to end the Mishima bloodline if it wasn't for the vision of Jun. Kazuya even admits that the Kazama bloodline somehow suppresses the Devil within so I wonder what could've happened if any of the Kazamas ran into the Hachijos. Sadly, Namco might be neglecting her importance considering her said role considering she hasn't even been making any more canon appearances either.
What also disturbs me is how Tekken 5 ended up creating then-newcomer Asuka Kazama in her place. Sure, I do like playing as Asuka and she's probably one of the favorite characters I play as. However, I just felt like that the link between Asuka and Jun isn't all too established. Sure, they do visually look alike but it's not outright stated that Mr. Kazama (Asuka's ever absent father) is Jun's brother. I even feel like the ties could have been tightened with Asuka's existence.
Like how? I think Tekken 5 could have actually done this by stating that Mr. Kazama is actually Jun's brother or something -- that she's the splitting image of her deceased aunt. Make it a reason that she never knew Jin existed was because of how Jun disappeared into the woods to raise her son alone. Make her realize that Jin is her first degree cousin. Her non-canon Tekken 5 ending could've also put several instances where she says, "How could you do that to your own cousin?!" before she punches Jin for that rather awkward incident. That ending seems to suggest that Asuka has the power to suppress the Devil Gene -- which makes me think any attempt to try and make Asuka no longer related to Jun should be a jump the shark moment like when Akuma suddenly invaded Tekken.
I even thought Tekken 6 could have actually tried to tighten it up further in Scenario Campaign with Asuka. She could really find out about her relationship to Jin though not everyone with the same surname are always rated. I could probably have it where she actually seeks to stop her own blood relative Jin for the worldwide chaos in Tekken 6. Sadly, Jun seems to be overshadowed by who could be her own niece (and split image) Asuka and appreciation for the latter has somewhat died except for being Jin's mother!
I even thought Tekken 6 could have actually tried to tighten it up further in Scenario Campaign with Asuka. She could really find out about her relationship to Jin though not everyone with the same surname are always rated. I could probably have it where she actually seeks to stop her own blood relative Jin for the worldwide chaos in Tekken 6. Sadly, Jun seems to be overshadowed by who could be her own niece (and split image) Asuka and appreciation for the latter has somewhat died except for being Jin's mother!
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