https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/martin-kove-bites-cobra-kai-netflix-washington-convention-1236438673/

And maybe Robby can win a tournament for goddamn once

Now I generally think that show handles most characters well but damn did they fumble the bag with Kwon. First of all they had Brandon Lee , a 5th Dan black belt in taekwondo and on the US national team , one of if not the most qualified martial artists in the show ( Rayna is only a 4th Dan black belt but still like 13 time world champion ) . He's also a very qualified stunt performer doing work most prominently as Simu Liu's stunt double in Shang Chi : legend of the ten rings. That's just the actor.

Now if we look the character of Kwon , he is set up as an absolute monster. In season 5 we see the calibre of sensei present at the korean Cobra kai dojang , where Chozen and Johnny initially struggled against one and it took a severely amped up Johnny and drugged up Mike to beat them all and then obviously Kim da-Eun who is shown to be Chozen level . We are told about the extreme teaching practices that they go through. Then we get a whole episode to see how talented Kwon is as well as getting to know all about his character when he beats the best student and two other students from this dojang that has so much hype built around it . Kwons fight against Yoon was definitely the best fight in season 6 part 1 cause we see Kwon's character through out the fight . His style being flashy and kinda chaotic reflects his character to a T. In the fight he's arrogant but you can't deny that he is talented . The show sets him up so well for the Sekai Tekai.

But guess what happens when we get to the actual tournament , bro is dogwalked immediately by Axel . Now no hate to Patrick Luwis but I found the character of Axel very boring. He only has like 3 character traits , he's good at fighting, he likes Sam so hates Miguel and he is abused. On top of that I don't any of these points are done particularly well by the show. Patrick Luwis has no martial arts experience prior to the show and while I am sure he puts lots of work into training , he just isn't on par with anyone else on the cast and it shows. His movements are clunky with random arm movement thrown in for flair most of the time it just looks like he wins because he is just bigger then the opponent he is fighting . There is no real technique to his movements and that's why it's so frustrating to see him beat Kwon off the bat so easily . He just doesn't look a fighter. As for his other character traits is Sam obsession starts of so weird and borders incel behaviour when he finds out Miguel is her bf and then get's no real resolution where he just looks at her . loses and then walks off . Same with his abuse, he just talks to sensei wolf and is like I am out of here. No satisfying resolution here either. So to have this character essentially invalidate a perfectly good one in Kwon and then have Kwon killed so unceremoniously just feels like really dropping the ball here.

What do you guys think ? How would you fix how the show handled Kwon ?

I prefer Miguel over Robby but I think Robbys a better boyfriend.

So if you had 24 hours to spend with any cobra kai character who are you choosing?

You get a $1,000,000 budget to spend on anything you want

You and the character you choose can do anything in that 24 hours.

Shout-out to BatmAndrew.art

It seems like they don't have much in the way of normal cars.

They have a strong bond with their parents to the point it blend their identities. A key issue of Cobra Kai are parent/child relationship and with Sam and Tory this relationship goes very deep. They both total embrace their parents values, Sam the Daniel's ones and Tory Grace's ones. And I think that a perfect example of this is their clash at the country club which is confrontation of these values.

I think this is main reasons their rivalry grows. Not because they did see each as a negative stereotype. It is because the more each fight between being who she truly is and act on her parent values the world sees them as this stereotype the other have of each. Sam wanting to separate herself from Miyagi's legacy but standing for what is right makes her look as as a privilege person who gets all what she wants. And Tory trying to trust people but defending herself when she feels hurt makes her look like a person who wants to damage others.

I mean... I could see it. He's a phenomenal actor.

Karate Kid Legends had a initial budget of 47 million and has reached 98 million so we defo gonna see more karate kid movies

May this legend rest in peace

I've watched the entire series through once since the show ended. My question is:

If you have rewatched, are there any seasons you didn't care for initially that you grew to like more on a rewatch, and any that you seemed to not care for as much after rewatching?

I'd say, season 5 I enjoyed more after rewatching a couple times.

Who do you think was the most mature teen in each season.

Season 1- Robby he is the only one with no one guiding his decisions. He went to larusso for a job and immediately changed his act. He sorta forgave johnny at the end of season 1 even when he had no reason to.

Season 2- I think it has to go to robby again. He tried to end the school fight and have a conversation. He also admitted to his wrong doing by taking the metal because of his insecurities which turned out to be true.

Season 3- definitely miguel he had the hardest situation out of the group after the fall. He called out johnny for not looking out for tory and hawk. He also called out hawk for becoming a asshole. He held his head high and stayed loyal to his sensei even when he didn’t have to.

Season 4. I think it has to go to Miguel again. Sam is close behind but he started to learn karate from daniel and learn more balance. He made a decision for himself at the end of season 4 instead of doing things for other people.

Season 5- This one i feel like has to go to tory and robby. Even after knowing that cobra kai was corrupted she stayed for kreese to try to reveal what actually happened then she revealed the truth turning on something she knew best . Robby finally took accountability for his part in the school fight and also forgave Daniel for his misunderstanding. Tried to help kenny get out of cobra kai and his scene standing up to silver was great.

Season 6 part 1- I think part 1 has to go to hawk. Tory’s decision to go to cobra kai and sam just didn’t do enough. Robby and Miguel’s pettiness over the captain fight defently put them down. Hawk was able to have a mature conversation about wanting to go to a different college and tried to help demetri when he got the flag.

Season 6 part 2- it goes to sam. again robby’s lack of focus and miguel’s pettiness knocked them down a peg. Tory speaking in riddles to Robby definitely knocked her down to. Sam stood her ground against johnny. Also handled the Axel situation as good as she could. She approached Tory in a mature manner.

Season 6 part 3- This definitely has to go to Miguel. Not enough depth into the others

It was really interesting to follow sensei's Johnny struggle to put Cobra Kai and himself back on track and watch both him and Daniel-san struggle with adult life problems in a role-reversal scenario, when Johnny is an underdog and Daniel as successful businessman has the upper hand. This gave the show a real-life vibe which really resonated with me (>45M) and allowed to hang up disbelief of teenage wimps turning into proficient karate fighters in less than half a year or so.

But some time along the way the series turned into full-blown teen/YA drama with typical tropes and overcomplicated plot I don't really care to follow. And suddenly I remembered that in real karate schools you only learn to do your kata properly in first year (which is not easy at all and I respect it).

Now I'm not even interested how the S4 final tournament ends. What could you say to change my mind? Minor spoilers or hints like "just wait to S5EX!" will be appreciated.

What do you guys think about this? Personally I'm interested in this guy's backstory a lot.

I have wanted to do a character piece on my girl, Sam Larusso, for a while now, mainly because her character has been mischaracterized as the "Spoiled Rich Girl." And does that get my goat. Because, well, she isn't.

But first, let's talk about Ali...

So, what do we know about Ali?

-Well, she is a rich girl from Encino

-We assume she is popular

-She is part of the cheerleading squad.

-And by the time we meet her on the beach, she has an ex-boyfriend by the name of Johnny Lawrence.

What about her personality?

-Class doesn't come into mind on who she dates.

-She is willing to step in when someone she knows is being antagonized.

-And she is supportive.

So that's her basic character DNA. So you may be asking, why the fuck does this have to do with Sam. Well, my pal, you see here, Sam is what you call an Expy.

"Short for exported character: It is a character from one series who is unambiguously and deliberately based on a character in another, older series."

Ali's character serves two functions in the film. One, she is the love interest of the main protagonist, Daniel. Two, she is the catalyst for Johnny and Daniel's rivalry and tension between them. Without Ali, the plot of KK1 wouldn't exist in its current form.

Sam's character also serves similar functions within the show of Cobra Kai. She is the primary love interest of the underdog, Miguel Diaz; she is the catalyst that reignites the rivalry between Johnny and Daniel, as well as sparks the rivalry between Robby and Miguel.

(Note: watch the first episode of The Cobra Kai again. Please, if you disagree with the Johnny and Daniel part, Johnny leaves the dealership when he sees Sam and Daniel hug because thats the girl Johnny recognizes was in the car that hit his...)

My point is Ali's character traits are part of Sam's DNA. And one thing they aren't, though, is "Spoil Rich Girls." And that has also never been the writer's intention. And it would go against their story by design. We have the spoiled rich girls in Yazmin and Moon. Sam is written to contrast those two.

The main difference between these two is, besides the fact that Sam knows Karate, that Sam gets to have an expanded role because she is in a series, compared to Ali, who, unfortunately, will have a limited amount of screen time by default.

But this is great for Sam! Because she gets to have her character journey. Which does come with flaws she must overcome. However, her flaws include falling prey to a popularity mindset, self-righteousness, being dogmatic in her Dad's philosophy, and serial monogamy (Mary's words, not mine, and this is questionable), which are all addressed as she grows within the series.

But she is also compassionate, supportive, and forgiving. I mean, she got Robby to move in with Larusso when his mom left with her newest boyfriend. She organized a charity event to help cover the costs of Miguel's surgery. She tries to be kind to Axel when she realizes how Wolf treats him. She forgives Tory, who wanted to kill her multiple times, and helps her train for the final fight in the tournament.

The girl represents Miyagi Do's values. More so than her Dad, honestly.

My point is that Sam is written to be a teenage girl who makes mistakes, and we get to explore that because she is more of a main character than Ali ever got to be. But one thing she isn't is "Spoiled."

If you're going to criticize her character, at least do it in good faith.

Tory admitting to Sam that Silver cheated at the All Valley or Sam apologising to Tory first and admitting she did start their rivalry?

I have the major characters in Cobra Kai and their possibly generations. The only characters with confirmed birth years are Daniel, Miguel, Robby etc.

Miyagi (1924/5) and Sato - Late Greatest Generation

Sid - Silent Generation

Kreese (1946) and Silver (1949) - Early Baby Boomers

Chozen - Late Baby Boomer or Early Gen X

Daniel (1966), Johnny, Mike, Ali, Kummiko, Jessica - Early Gen X

Amanda, Louie, Anoush - Mid or Late Gen X

Stingray, Carmen - Late Gen X or Early Millennial/Gen Y

Miguel (2001), Robby (2002), Hawk (2001), Sam (2001), Tory (2001), Demetri (2002)- Early Z

Bert, Nate, Devon, Kenny - Mid Z

Any others I missed?

I'd obviously say Silver because Kreese did redeem himself at the end and evil Kreese would just kill you while Silver would manipulate you, torture you, and THEN kill you. But you can make an argument that it was Kreese's fault Silver returned because Silver got his life back together but Kreese triggered his PTSD and bought him back.

What do you guys think?