For fans of The Karate Kid movies and the successful first season of Cobra Kai, they are back with season 2 on YouTube! If you need a recap on how the first season went, YouTube posted a “Catch Up” video that can be seen here.
Cobra Kai
Sensei Kreese is back and just as bad as he was in the movies. His character has not been exactly a PC character but he doesn’t seem to age well. He still has habits of physically harming teenagers like he did with Johnny Lawrence when he was his pupil. He tries to back up why he did what he did as seeing potential in Johnny. It may seem like he has changed especially with his current situation, but don’t be fooled he is still as conniving as ever.
He exploits the fact that Johnny never had a good father figure by trying to be that for him now, but is only around because the dojo won a tournament. Johnny tends to try get his approval (which he may not realize he is doing) by being that much harder on his students. There may have been a scene involving a cement truck. I won’t go into any more details.
Miyagi-do Dojo
As the season progresses, we see Daniel training Robby Keene who is also Johnny Lawrence’s son. The tensions are high with the father and son but Daniel tries to make Robby’s life easier. Robby doesn’t talk with his father and his mother is frequently absent from his life. Daniel eventually invites Robby to live with him and eventually opens a dojo at no cost to train others in self defense. He does this as a means to combat the toxicity of the Cobra Kai dojo and names it Miyagi-do Dojo. He knows that the Cobra Kai dojo is mostly about offensive fighting, he tries to teach others defensive fighting. Those who had joined Cobra Kai were originally bullied but now that they are Cobra Kai they have become the bullies and Daniel wants to change that.
His daughter Sam joins the dojo as she has been practicing karate with Daniel since she was young. She tries to be her fathers biggest advocate after her bad break-up with Miguel Diaz who is Cobra Kai’s top student and winner of the tournament.
Thoughts
Johnny has come a long way from his bullying days. He still has some tendencies to be a jerk but is trying to become a better person. He still has issues with drinking and trying to connect with his son. Daniel being his mentor is not likely helping the situation and the fact that Sensei Kreese is back in the picture is causing a lot of issues between the two rival dojos.
The show has awesome fight scenes, romance, and references to the previous movies. They also incorporate how things have changed to today with technology and how the youth become interested in karate. This show is made for the youth of today and the nostalgic adults who grew up watching the movies. The show is definitely a must-watch!
Cobra Kai is on YouTube Originals.
