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Did you ever wonder what happened to the characters from The Karate Kid when they grew up, and wish you could see how they turned out thirty years later? Well, that's a weird pitch for a TV show, but Season 1 ended up being surprisingly good. Starring:   William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence, the tragic hero of The Karate Kid who had his life ruined by Daniel-san, played by Ralph Macchio. Yep, they actually got both of them to play their characters again, thirty years later. Johnny's had a pretty rough go of it, his life pretty much in a downward spiral after Daniel-san cheated to beat him in the big tournament, but he's never forgotten the spirit of Cobra Kai (and never grown out of the 80s). The first season has him pick up the pieces of his life and start a Cobra Kai dojo of his own so he can teach modern kids how to kick rear end and get babes. And it was going pretty well, until Daniel-san starts poking his nose into Johnny's business and reignites the old rivalry. It honestly had a lot of heart to it, showing how bad influences and stupid childhood grudges impacted Johnny's and Danny Russo's lives into adulthood, and how the mistakes they made echo in the high school kids they're trying to reach. Fantastic performance from Zabka in Season 1, especially given that he's not acted in forever -- really sold the high school jock rear end in a top hat that never grew up, and made him a very sympathetic character. One of the best new shows I saw last year, and definitely worth checking out. Even if you barely remember the movies! And in Season 2, for another blast from the past:  Martin Kove as John Kreese, the arrogant and malicious former sensei of Cobra Kai, who helped pit Johnny against Daniel-san thirty years ago in The Karate Kid. Seriously, he's looking really good for a guy in his seventies. Season 2 is already out! I'm surprised I haven't seen a thread for it already, more people need to watch it. e: Cobra Kai has been picked up by Netflix! Seasons 1+2 are already available, and Season 3 is coming next year! Trailer for Season 3 Phenotype fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Sep 4, 2020 |
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Apr 27, 2019 01:12
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I was just about to write up a thread for this as I just finished it. It certainly ended in a different direction than I would have thought!
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Apr 27, 2019 02:04
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I literally just finished watching season 2. Non-spoiler thoughts here. If S1 was a 10/10, I'd say this was a 8/10. Still really entertaining, but there was a strong amount of nuance and dimension in the main characters in the first season that seemed to be lost in this one. It was a tough act to follow up, but there were a lot of moments I felt a bit like eye-rolling at how contrived a lot of the setups were for big events. Though I guess John effin Kreese alone telegraphed that things would get way less subtle. In particular this season made Daniel and Sam LaRusso much less sympathetic IMO. Daniel-San was so drat petty and hyper-reactive about everything, it was actually pretty distracting how little thought or investigation he put into anything. If that's the definitive direction they're going for with him, I guess that's ok, but he was way more organic in the first season. I couldn't really tell if it was sloppy writing or actually intentional, but it's probably a bit of both. He was clearly a shitheel when he stormed into Johnny's apartment and was a pretty big hypocrite about his own kid seeking refuge with Lawrence as opposed to the reverse when he was letting the man's son live with him. Sam's arc was kind of WTF. Her ish with Tory started from her own mistaken accusation of stealing her mom's wallet and frankly she never owned up to it in the show, which comes off as kind of big deal if you think about it for even a second. Yeah she got pushed into dessert, but frankly she also grabbed the girl's bag. By the end it's clear that Tory is batshit (which I wish again, had more nuance and less... 80s writing), but Sam shares a lot of the same pushing off all culpability onto I think I've always been annoyed by the actor for Robbie, he just has an annoying presence and really dumb hair. I found it kind of funny he didn't even get an ending scene after the big fight. Was he arrested? Does his dad even care? I'm def. on Team Johnny at this point. If only he were smart enough to explain his situation and motivations better to assholes like LaRusso. But alas, he's just going to have to settle for mourning in the arms of his high school sweetheart after we find out she's a widow with two cute dogs. Also hoping Miguel is OK. I wouldn't be shocked if he's paralyzed, but I'd be pretty sad if he dies. Hell, I'd be sad if he's paralyzed too, so I'm hoping they extend the hyper cheesy 80s poo poo to Miguel making a miraculous recovery and being the man once again.
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Apr 27, 2019 04:11
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Robbies thing is being a 90s kid actor thrust in a show about 80s adults and 2010s kids. Hes pretty much Dicaprio on Growing Pains.
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Apr 27, 2019 04:20
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That's got to be an insult for DiCaprio, but I haven't watched his Growing Pains footage since they first aired back in the day. Robbie vaguely resembles Shawn Hunter from Boy Meets World, IMO, but the actor's pretty awful at playing believable "at-risk" youths. On the show, I admit I should really go and watch KK3. I only watched the first two plus that Jackie Chan reboot attempt. It's clear I'm missing out on some backstory which wasn't at all important in season 1, but Kreese's presence only looks to get bigger next season. edited for minor spoiler iamsosmrt fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Apr 27, 2019 |
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Apr 27, 2019 04:32
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iamsosmrt posted:Robbie vaguely resembles Shawn Hunter from Boy Meets World Oh my god, that's it! For two seasons I couldn't figure out why he looked so damned familiar. I still have two episodes to go, but this season has been really strong too so far. I like the Stranger Things sorta vibe it has, channeling 80s movie tropes. Some of it has been a little cheesy, but everything's done so earnest and straight that it almost always works.
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Apr 27, 2019 05:11
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Can we drop the spoiler tags? You shouldn't be reading this thread if you haven't seen the series. It is fun how many of the original actors they have gotten back, especially when Johnny reunites with the original Cobra-Kais. I didn't put together how the end of Tommy's story references his famous line at the All Valley. Johnny's man out of time story is great, what with his smartphone answering machine. Trapper Keepers are still cool though, right?
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Apr 27, 2019 08:34
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It's crazy how every issue that pops up could easily be solved by people hashing it out and karate just makes everything worse.Darko posted:Robbies thing is being a 90s kid actor thrust in a show about 80s adults and 2010s kids. Hes pretty much Dicaprio on Growing Pains. He reminds me of the green power ranger.
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Apr 27, 2019 09:29
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It amazes me in this LA universe absolutely zero people are shooting for takedowns and there are exactly zero police.
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Apr 27, 2019 09:59
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I liked watching every single episode, but somehow the season as a whole was dissapointing? Maybe just down to a lack of any resolution at all, stuff kinda just happened and characters developed sporadically without their being any pay-off at the end (other than the fight scene in the high-school which was pretty dope for a TV Show). However, it was emotionally weighty when it needed to be, was sorta funny, and it's hard to not enjoy 80's synth-pop and training montages.
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Apr 27, 2019 13:39
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Dimitri is either the best or worse character in any scene he's in. E.g. Worst: "I hate learning karate and painting fences." Best: The Moon's house comedy roast of Hawk. Daniel's wife continued to kill it this season, and I really enjoyed the whole double dinner date plot. It was nice to see Daniel and Johnny find some common ground, even if it didn't last.
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Apr 27, 2019 14:00
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Roach Warehouse posted:Dimitri is either the best or worse character in any scene he's in. E.g. Worst: "I hate learning karate and painting fences." Best: The Moon's house comedy roast of Hawk. First of the Aut Star.
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Apr 27, 2019 14:07
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I really thought Johnny and Daniel would join forces this season but I guess that will be S3. I don’t want to spoil too much but Kreese is loving insane and I love it. Like, Johnny is stuck in the 80’s and it’s charming. Kreese is stuck in the jungles of Vietnam and it’s 
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Apr 27, 2019 14:55
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Roach Warehouse posted:Dimitri is either the best or worse character in any scene he's in. E.g. Worst: "I hate learning karate and painting fences." Best: The Moon's house comedy roast of Hawk. I enjoy the earnest Daniel/Johnny scenes (they went to a bar in S1 and were close to having a "friendly" sparring session too), but the most disappointing thing about each is they may as well be non-canon since neither scene seems to have any effect on their relationships going forward. Not even a hint of "Johnny's an rear end in a top hat, but he's actually not too bad, maybe I shouldn't jump to extreme conclusions every time I hear anything about him" immediately afterwards. Weasling Weasel posted:I liked watching every single episode, but somehow the season as a whole was dissapointing? Maybe just down to a lack of any resolution at all, stuff kinda just happened and characters developed sporadically without their being any pay-off at the end (other than the fight scene in the high-school which was pretty dope for a TV Show). However, it was emotionally weighty when it needed to be, was sorta funny, and it's hard to not enjoy 80's synth-pop and training montages. It'll be curious how they resolve the school fight, since realistically, it'd be insane to let any of those kids back, and if anything, most of them should be arrested and spending some time in juvi. But my guess is they'll ignore it and pretend the injuries to Miguel are the only thing of consequence.
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Apr 27, 2019 16:22
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Just finished the season yesterday, I agree with it being weaker than the first but still good. Namely: I'm disappointed with Tory's arc. I liked that she was self determined and had an agenda with her aggression. I figured she'd be this season's Robbie, going through struggles and redemption, but... She ended up being part of a love triangle just to start the (admittedly cool) fight? Why didn't Hawk do that to Eli? Also I'm conflicted on Stingray but that's for other reasons.
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Apr 27, 2019 17:28
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Yeah this season wasn't sheer perfection like S1 but I still mainlined it in 2 days so clearly it did something right. Spoilerthoughts Kreese - honestly kind of a wash. in the early episodes he was just kind of distracting, then he's gone, then whoops he's not. Tory - really disappointed they made her a full psycho. she rocked that Madonna costume though! Hawk - kind of the same problem as Daniel-san, just too much of a one dimensional character this time, but when he cut loose in the last fight I was like HELL YEAH so Dmitri - a weenie Stingray - funnier than he should have been but still kind of unnecessary I guess? Also disappointed that Daniel's butter drinking failson was literally only in like one scene.
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Apr 27, 2019 20:28
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Oh poo poo I forgot about the failson. My guess is they must've paid attention to maybe 1 source of feedback from the first season and responded in kind with this season. Failson must not have been well liked, as I think he was effectively replaced by Mr. Edward 40hands Stingray. Anyone seen any behind the scenes material on this show? I'm guessing only a handful of actors took serious fight training because honestly only like Hawk, Miguel and a couple of others can throw believable kicks and punches. Sam needs to step her game up, she's like watching Shane McMahon embarrass people as he peppers pro wrestlers with the shittiest pulled punches I've ever seen. If Miguel is indeed out of commission next season, the student fighting's going to take a pretty big nose dive. I really just want to see him wreck Robbie properly next season Also, after the one episode of Johnny's mini reunion, I have a huge appreciation for William Zabka's looks, because man did the other Cobra Kai age like poo poo.
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Apr 27, 2019 20:52
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Finally finished this morning, and yeah, it's not as tightly plotted as the first season was, but it's still a really good season of TV, and you only really see how a lot of it comes together at the end. Moriatti posted:I'm disappointed with Tory's arc. I liked that she was self determined and had an agenda with her aggression. I figured she'd be this season's Robbie, going through struggles and redemption, but... She ended up being part of a love triangle just to start the (admittedly cool) fight? Why didn't Hawk do that to Eli? I agree about Tory, but I can't really fault them for it too much because that's another stupid 80s movie trope, the "bad girl" who lures the protagonist away from the girl he's meant to be with, and it's always a one-note character. Dimitri was the worst though, and I was really pissed that Hawk didn't kick his rear end at the end. I mean Hawk was the bully, sure, but Dimitri was just so very bullyable. He just refused to show any growth throughout the whole season, beyond a token effort at karate if you back him into an absolute corner. I wanted Daniel to smack him going through that training montage -- like, okay, let him be neurotic a couple times for laughs, but as his sensei, you need to let him know he needs to step outside his narrow comfort zone if he ever wants to do anything with himself. Definitely didn't expect that ending, though. I kind of want to erase it from my own personal head-canon until and unless there's a season 3 -- everything just went so badly for Johnny he's worse off than when he started the series. Did NOT expect Robbie to blindside him at the end, and holy poo poo what that's going to do for his mindset. And the rest of the dojo's mindset too, apparently. 
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Apr 28, 2019 00:17
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Phenotype posted:I agree about Tory, but I can't really fault them for it too much because that's another stupid 80s movie trope, the "bad girl" who lures the protagonist away from the girl he's meant to be with, and it's always a one-note character. Yeah, it's a trope I thought they were going to subvert since Then both Miguel and Sam could move on.
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Apr 28, 2019 00:54
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Moriatti posted:Yeah, it's a trope I thought they were going to subvert since Then both Miguel and Sam could move on. Regarding Sam vs Tory, the series follows through on the Rocky IV formula were the antagonist is bigger, faster, stronger, and is apparently training harder, but loses because they have less "heart" than the good guy.
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Apr 28, 2019 03:09
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So how much money do you think it would take to Elizabeth Shue to show up for an episode in season 3? I'd love to see the cringe from both Johnny and Daniel when she shows up.
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Apr 28, 2019 03:14
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Jose Oquendo posted:So how much money do you think it would take to Elizabeth Shue to show up for an episode in season 3? William Zabka getting interviewed by a crocodile https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ESwnuIqpzs
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Apr 28, 2019 03:27
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Jose Oquendo posted:So how much money do you think it would take to Elizabeth Shue to show up for an episode in season 3? I forget, is she a surgeon now? I'm thinking she's going to be called in to be the one to help with the injuries sustained in the season finale.
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Apr 28, 2019 03:36
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I don't care what happens on GoT tonight, the brawl in this finale was the best fight scene I have ever watched.
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Apr 28, 2019 11:38
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I know Kreese is supposed to be eeevil to his toenails, but.. I don't think any veteran would condone the theft of a medal of Honor, much less defacing it into a pendant.
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Apr 28, 2019 13:44
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Kreese is a huge racist though.
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Apr 28, 2019 15:01
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SimonCat posted:Regarding Sam vs Tory, the series follows through on the Rocky IV formula were the antagonist is bigger, faster, stronger, and is apparently training harder, but loses because they have less "heart" than the good guy. Yeah, it's a lot of tropes but I feel like it tied it's self to the tropes instead of doing something interesting, which isn't how Season 1 was. Edit: also Kreese may not actually be a Vateran, there were a lot of hints he was lying not only about his recent military activity, but since we know he's entirely attempting to manipulate Johnny, it's possible that he never actually served with the active forces. Moriatti fucked around with this message at 15:05 on Apr 28, 2019 |
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Apr 28, 2019 15:03
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Moriatti posted:Yeah, it's a lot of tropes but I feel like it tied it's self to the tropes instead of doing something interesting, which isn't how Season 1 was. I was going to say that the other day, i kept thinking about it when i was watching it
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Apr 28, 2019 15:47
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Moriatti posted:Yeah, it's a trope I thought they were going to subvert since Then both Miguel and Sam could move on. They did, to a degree. Tory's character is relatively one-note, but she's given a bit more depth and realism than similar characters. She had a believable story about why the no mercy Cobra Kai philosophy speaks to her, and ironically she was proven right at the end. She just doesn't show a lot of growth during the show because, well, there's nothing forcing her to grow during the arc of this season. Her existing nature is just nurtured by joining Cobra Kai, then by the time Johnny stops letting Kreese teach the kids, she sees Miguel and Sam together, starts the fight in the high school, and sees how showing mercy leaves Miguel in the hospital. She's more of an example of how Cobra Kai is going to naturally speak to people, like Hawk's transformation in the first season. Phenotype fucked around with this message at 16:35 on Apr 28, 2019 |
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Apr 28, 2019 16:32
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Moriatti posted:Yeah, it's a lot of tropes but I feel like it tied it's self to the tropes instead of doing something interesting, which isn't how Season 1 was. I had the same thought though wouldn't that contradict what Terry Silver said in Karate Kid 3 about Kreese saving his life?
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Apr 28, 2019 16:49
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There's also the photograph Not gonna lie I was totally prepared for the last shot of the season to reveal that Tory's last name is Silver lmao
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Apr 28, 2019 17:05
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What's Hillary Swank up to these days?
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Apr 28, 2019 17:13
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Rhyno posted:What's Hillary Swank up to these days? Hopefully preparing her dojo for the next all valley tournament. We need a mega battle next season with her dojo and Jackie Chan/Jaden Smith's dojo.
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Apr 28, 2019 18:43
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Spacebump posted:Hopefully preparing her dojo for the next all valley tournament. We need a mega battle next season with her dojo and Jackie Chan/Jaden Smith's dojo. Jackie runs a Kung Fu ... Dojo? I don't know what the equivalent term is. Either way, INVALID for the Karate Tournament.
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Apr 28, 2019 19:10
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SolarFire2 posted:Jackie runs a Kung Fu ... Dojo? I don't know what the equivalent term is. Either way, INVALID for the Karate Tournament. Allowing them to compete will be the best change since the blue mats.
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Apr 28, 2019 19:19
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iamsosmrt posted:I enjoy the earnest Daniel/Johnny scenes (they went to a bar in S1 and were close to having a "friendly" sparring session too), but the most disappointing thing about each is they may as well be non-canon since neither scene seems to have any effect on their relationships going forward. Not even a hint of "Johnny's an rear end in a top hat, but he's actually not too bad, maybe I shouldn't jump to extreme conclusions every time I hear anything about him" immediately afterwards. Yeah the episode 10 beginning was kind of contrived IMO, and I agree with what Woden said about karate just making everything worse (since it seems to be everyone's "go-to") Favorite gag of the season in episode 9: Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do spot eachother across the party, we see Hawk and Demetri glare at each other, then Chris and his former friend, then the third little kid with the Miyagis glaring at Bert as if they have some mysterious history hahaha
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Apr 28, 2019 19:59
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SimonCat posted:I had the same thought though wouldn't that contradict what Terry Silver said in Karate Kid 3 about Kreese saving his life? It's been a while since I've seen 3 but wasnt that while he was trying to seduce Daniel into Kobra Kai? Also the photograph doesn't really mean anything, it's just another second place trophy. I'm not saying it's text or necessary, only that I assume he's lying.
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Apr 28, 2019 20:19
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Moriatti posted:It's been a while since I've seen 3 but wasnt that while he was trying to seduce Daniel into Kobra Kai? I'm pretty sure he wasn't lying about his initial time in the military, just any that happened after that. I'm basing this off of when he finally admits he lied, he explains why they wouldn't let him re-enlist.
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Apr 28, 2019 22:00
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Has anyone here actually taken karate classes? I've never done it, but I'm just curious how deep the classes and lessons tend to seep into people's lives. I mean it's clearly more important than life itself in Cobra Kai, but even in the original Karate Kid, it felt more like karate was more of a side component of Daniel learning life from Miyagi. Also, I wonder if Daniel will take any responsibility for Miyagi-do breaking Miguel's entire backside, or if he's just going to pass it off as evil Cobra-kai blood tainting his lessons.
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Apr 28, 2019 23:04
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Spacebump posted:I'm pretty sure he wasn't lying about his initial time in the military, just any that happened after that. I'm basing this off of when he finally admits he lied, he explains why they wouldn't let him re-enlist. only we find out he wasn't being genuine in that scene either. He may have enlisted but the text makes it unclear how much Kreese is lying about his past. iamsosmrt posted:Has anyone here actually taken karate classes? I've never done it, but I'm just curious how deep the classes and lessons tend to seep into people's lives. I mean it's clearly more important than life itself in Cobra Kai, but even in the original Karate Kid, it felt more like karate was more of a side component of Daniel learning life from Miyagi. It's like a hobby or sport, you make friends and develop certain postures or ways of moving, but it doesn't "take over". That said, this depends on the dojo, and dojo rivalries can exist, usually related to drama outside of the art itself (such as the business side.) Some dojos focus more on the form, function or social aspects so it varies, as with any other hobby/sport. Tournaments are rad though, I wish there was a good dojo around here so I could compete again.
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Apr 28, 2019 23:25
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