Karate Kid sequel: Daniel-san grew up to be a jerk?

Daniel's appropriation of Japanese culture is problematic.

 

I'm only two episodes in and I'm a little upset that it's basically Karate Kid all over again but with Johnny playing the combined role of Myagi and Kreese and Daniel being Johnny.

But so far, I do like it. I like the callbacks for the original movie (I won't spoil any). My brother has finished the whole series and he says it does start to stray away from the original plot of Karate Kid and develop its own story, so I'm optimistic.

 

I haven't seen any of the episodes. But do any of them contain explanations for a total turn by Daniel to ways that sound as if they'd be the total opposite of anything and everything Myagi ever would have taught him? Did Daniel react badly to the death of Myagi, or something?

I'm just curious, and wealth, in and of itself, should not typically turn someone into a bad person, or into someone they are not.

 

Owning a successful car dealership in the Valley isn't the opposite of anything and everything Myagi taught him.

The first 2 episodes show him to be a relatively grounded person, husband, and father.

Without giving much away ... karate had faded to the backburner of his life.

Until it returned after an emotional visit at Myagi's gravesite.

 

Yeah, Daniel is still basically a nice guy, but Cobra Kai and Johnny trigger his worst insticts. It's really all handled pretty well.

 

Just finished watching the last episode. It was OK. As much as I wanted to love this show, it was just way too much of a remake of Karate Kid for my taste. I mean, they pretty much just took the Karate Kid script and then changed the characters around a little.

I really wish they would have focused more on the Johnny vs. Daniel story (the scene in the bar was great) than basically recreating every memorable scene from the original movie. After the second episode, it got so predictable that my wife hated watching it with me.

 

That was a good scene.

 

Yeah, probably one of my favorite scenes. I wish it had been more of that, more of Daniel learning more about Johnny and vice versa.

 

From Patton Oswalt ...

I hope the Emmy nominations take a close look at what William Zabka and Ralph Macchio do in their episodes -- both separately and in the astounding episode 9. They don't go for the one-note, cartoonish character traits that they could easily coast on for the series. Ralph Macchio's grown-up Daniel LaRusso is good-hearted, heroic, generous...and sitting on some Thanos-level grudges. William Zabka's Johnny Lawrence is a walking 4chan comment thread, an 80's DayGlo jock trapped in a world of peanut allergies, microagressions and texting. Except...there's a wounded, warped and weirdly wise sensei hidden underneath the swagger and aggression. When he drunkenly cruises Ventura Boulevard in his Camaro, blasting Foreigner's "Head Games," he does it with the needy gusto of a displaced time traveler trying to re-summon a rosier past.

 

Should have done a prequel and focused on the rise of the Cobra Kai. What made Martin Kove so angry?

 

Vietnam

 

If they're smart they'll do that in season 2, even if it's just a 5-minute scene.