Cobra Kai is fucking awesome.
The contrast between Daniel and Johnny
Johnny had a rich step dad who treated him like shit so he found a father figure in Kreese. Daniel had no dad and was poor and found a father figure in Miyagi. Daniel ended up rich while Johnny ended up poor. Both men have their demons and seeing how they work through it by themselves and how their demons are transferred to their students work nicely. Neither of them are exactly the bad guy nor the good guy as the trailers might suggest. Both are simply men with demons that they still need to work through.
In the Karate kid it was more about the story of Daniel, than Miyagi's story. We however did get a good idea about Miyagi's history from his time as a war veteran, to his time living in Okinawa, so he wasn't just the wise old teacher archetype. But we didn't know much about Kreese. Here we already know Daniel's story from the Karate Kid movies, and we know a little bit about Johnny. The series fleshes out more about Johnny to make him a much more rounded character than Kreese ever was. Which brings me to the next point. The show is not just Daniel and Johnny, its about the kids they train. I would argue its about as much about the kids as their sensei, whereas in the Karate Kid movies, it was more about one student. Here it focusses on the sensei's (Daniel and Johnny) and also not just one student, but several students. Which brings me to the next point.
Their students
Johnny in his own warped way nurtures the Cobra Kai students, who start off as a bunch of misfits. For those who have ever been bullied, it resonates with you. Johnny's speech to motivate them works nicely with his personality. He simply tells the kids he used to be like them, no friends etc until he joined Cobra Kai. This actually works rather than a cheap stunt where you expect Johnny to simply pretend to play nice to keep the fee paying students. If Cobra Kai was star wars, Johnny is Palpatine and Daniel is Yoda.
We see some of Cobra Kai's students, and you feel for them as they are the bullied. Even the "no mercy" scream is used to comedic effect. However it starts taking a dark turn, particularly with the character of Hawk, and also to a lesser extent with Miguel.
There is plenty of relationship drama here. Johnny's son ends up as Daniel's student. Daniel's daughter ends up dating Miguel, who is the number one student of Cobra Kai. We see how Miguel gets sort of bitter and twisted by the training. He might end up being Johnny number two, and you can see Johnny realising this is not necessarily the path he wants to take.
Nice karate kid references
1. Johnny telling Miguel the story between him and Daniel, and he takes the version from "Daniel is the real bully" youtube video, where he edits out certain details, like how he struck Daniel first.
2. Miguel copying Daniel's crane kick to troll Daniel.
3. Daniel trying to copy Miyagi's healing technique and then end up calling the medics.
Cobra Kai season one sets up nicely for a sequel. All I can say is, go watch Cobra Kai.
Never apologise for being a geek, because they won't apologise to you for being an arsehole. John Barrowman - 22 June 2014 Perth Supernova.
Countries I have been to - 14.
Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, USA.
Always on the lookout for more nice places to visit.