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Post by Harkovast on Jul 18, 2018 23:45:22 GMT
It's a show on youtube I've started watching.
It picks up the story of The Karate Kid in modern times, and the Bully from the original movie is the main character.
And it's remarkably good!
Seriously, I'm really into this show.
If you liked karate kid (and if you didn't, what the hell?) then check this out-
The idea of reviewing events from the other guys point of view is really interesting to me.
And honestly Johnny Lawrence is such a politically incorrect jerk I can't help but warm to him.
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Post by Harkovast on Jul 19, 2018 0:04:34 GMT
Honestly I can't believe how much I like this show.
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Post by Harkovast on Jul 19, 2018 0:06:24 GMT
Shit, only the first 2 episodes are free! I dont want to have to get fucking youtube red! God Damn it.
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Post by Harkovast on Jul 19, 2018 19:13:52 GMT
Okay so you cant get premium youtube in the Uk yet, so I had to watch it bootlegged with shit audio...
Even so HOLY SHIT!
They are doing 10 more episodes and I really need to see them!
I genuinely can't believe that ending.
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Post by Harkovast on Jul 20, 2018 18:17:56 GMT
I need someone to see this show so I can talk to someone about it.
Its driving me nuts not having anyone to talk to!
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Post by wordweaver3 on Jul 21, 2018 1:36:34 GMT
Okay, I'll watch it.
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Post by Harkovast on Jul 21, 2018 1:49:42 GMT
Not watching Cobra Kai makes you weak.
We do not come on the forum to be weak!
Weakness does not exist on this forum!
Pain does not exist on this forum!
Defeat does not exist on this forum!
Did you know in real life the Mr Miyagi actor was American and had an American accent? Yeah he was just a really good actor.
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Post by wordweaver3 on Jul 21, 2018 3:36:25 GMT
Okay, I saw the first two episodes.
I kinda like Johnny more than Daniel. It's hard not to root for a guy that's been beaten down so badly. I mean, a lot of it is self inflicted. He lets LaRusso's success get to him, although I guess having such a prominent local celeb show up on billboards and commercials makes it difficult to put it out of mind. I'm amazed that they got both Macchio and Zabka to reprise their roles. They're both pulling it off very well. You can see that they've both changed a lot over the years but are still the same characters. It was wonderful to see Ed Asner as Johnny's abusive step father. Ed can't have too many roles left in him.
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Post by wordweaver3 on Jul 21, 2018 5:26:18 GMT
The interesting thing I've noticed so far is that the show seems to be setting up the characters to be the inverse of what they once were. Johnny is going to learn how to be responsible (or as close to it as he's able) and have the burden of being a (hopefully) positive male influence to younger students. Daniel is going to find it difficult, if not impossible, to let go of his low opinion of the Cobra Kai in general, and Johnny in particular. Johnny is down and out, and easy to abuse. Daniel now has all the advantages and will struggle, and likely fail, to avoid using his position to bully is former nemesis.
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Post by Harkovast on Jul 21, 2018 9:53:53 GMT
Its genuinely really clever how it puts a new spin on everything.
We get Johnny's point of view on past events that (while he might still have been in the wrong) make his view on things more understandable.
A big thing on the show is the importance of having a male role model and a mentor.
Johnny didn't get that at home so looked to get that from Cobra Kai, though his trust in his sensei was betrayed, so his life ultimately all went wrong. The bit where he remembers his Sensei choking him really brought home how terrible that was from his point of view.
There isn't really a clear good guy and bad guy between Johnny and Daniel in this one, they are both interesting characters who are flawed in their own ways.
There is an episode where Daniel visits Mr Miyagi's grave and, not gonna lie, it made me tear up a bit. Especially when they showed a flashback of Miyagi giving some wisdom about having balance in life to Daniel.
As with everything in the series, the fact its the same actor makes it all have that extra impact, as its also Ralph Macchio paying his respects to the late, great Pat Morita.
I can confirm the series is really awesome throughout, ending on a ridiculously exciting note! The relationship between Daniel and Johnny is the heart of the show, but the cast of new characters are really great as well. Miguel, Johnny's super enthusiastic pupil is a really awesome underdog. I don't want to say more spoilers though!
There is a real sense of love for the original franchise throughout the series.
They aren't doing a parody or mindlessly recreating it or trying to "subvert" it, its a genuinely clever continuation of the story.
It reminds me of what I was saying about Creed 2, the idea of the former villain coming back but as a more complex, conflicted character and showing their side of things.
The actors even look the part. Daniel has that baby face that perfectly fits someone whose had a good life, while Johnny looks more weather and you can believe he's been through tough times. The fact they are as well suited to this new take on the characters 30 years later as they were back in 1984 blows my damn mind.
There is a second season planned and I am very hyped for it. It's the continuation of the story we didn't know we wanted.
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Post by wordweaver3 on Jul 24, 2018 2:54:46 GMT
This is a show produced by people who understand exactly what has happened in this world since the events of the movie. Things are happening because they make sense that they have happened. People have changed in ways that makes sense. Johnny has allowed himself to be beaten down by his failures and humiliation for over 30 years. Daniel has ridden his minor fame to success. I was initially skeptical about the car salesman thing, but when I thought about his character, it kinda makes sense. Even with him there's a pathetic undertone to it. Sure, he has a successful business and a family, but he's still clinging to the past. Something very evident in how he runs his business. Karate chopping in his ads and a bonsai tree for every customer. It all feels crude, but something that often happens when people try to leverage their former fame.
These two rivals meet again after all those years and that spark of what they had rekindles again. These are deeper, more complicated characters than they were as teenagers. It's a small story, but with so much potential for drama.
And then we have Star Wars. Where 30 years pass and nobody has done anything except get old.
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Post by wordweaver3 on Jan 2, 2019 4:55:52 GMT
LOL!
So I finally hunted down ep 3 and it opens with Miguel shadow boxing in his room and his mom assumes he's jerking off!
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Post by Harkovast on Jan 2, 2019 7:15:33 GMT
Yeah, the show is awesome like that.
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Post by wordweaver3 on Jan 3, 2019 0:22:03 GMT
I've gotten to episode 7. There's some really fantastic stuff here. All the main characters are likeable even if they butt heads with each other. Daniel seems like a great husband and father, but he gets blinded by the past in regards to Johnny. Johnny is crude and brutish, but he has some pigheaded wisdom that he manages to get across to his students. A kind of boorish philosophy that really isn't as contrary to the more elegant take that Mr. Miyagi taught as it first seems. Miguel has a tempering influence on Johnny, teaching him as much as he's learning from him. Daniel's wife is just wonderfully insightful, quickly pointing out that his rivalry had consequences to people other than Johnny.
And the lunch room fight Miguel has with his bullies is just tits.
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Post by Harkovast on Jan 3, 2019 1:01:55 GMT
Its a really smart show.
Its about mentorship and how that that can be positive, for both the student and the mentor.
I never ever thought I wanted a character kid follow up series...but thats what's so genius. This show makes you desperately want something you never knew you wanted before.
By the end I was getting excited at every little reference.
I like the way Johnny has a more positive interpretation on what Cobra Kai is, and how no mercy is more like being confident and going for what you want and not letting opportunity slip away.
I think the moment when I was really sold on the show was when johnny remembered getting choked by his sensei. Partly becuase I was worrying they wouldn't have the rights to the second and third movies footage, but also because it's such a defining moment for him.
With a mentor like that, is it any wonder he ended up a loser?
I also loved that he had a rich but unloving step dad.
Not actively abusive, but not supportive of him. It explains why he was the rich kid but also why he would seek out another mentor.
That fits so well for how he was when he was young, it makes me go "of course that's how it was!"
Let me know when you've finished the series.
I think you will be pleased.
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