Cobra Kai finally ended. I was impressed by the ending, found it really enjoyable and a good way to wrap things up.

I am on the third episode of the last season (so I have like 13 episodes to go: waited until the whole thing was released so I didn't have to wait for the split season). I was a little wary when it looked like we might get more Johny and Daniel Drama, but then they brought back Kreese and things leveled out more. This season I am just giving into the absurdity of it. Kreese has a luke skywalker moment in a cave after being bitten by a cobra. No medical attention necessary lol

Quote from: Bedrockbrendan on March 08, 2025, 08:40:44 PMThis season I am just giving into the absurdity of it. Kreese has a luke skywalker moment in a cave after being bitten by a cobra. No medical attention necessary lol

Oh no. I lost interest in season 2? When all the kids were gang fighting in the school and I thought "What the hell is this?"
Shame. It's a great concept and the first season was pretty good.

Quote from: Ratman_tf on March 09, 2025, 01:08:23 AM

Quote from: Bedrockbrendan on March 08, 2025, 08:40:44 PMThis season I am just giving into the absurdity of it. Kreese has a luke skywalker moment in a cave after being bitten by a cobra. No medical attention necessary lol

Oh no. I lost interest in season 2? When all the kids were gang fighting in the school and I thought "What the hell is this?"
Shame. It's a great concept and the first season was pretty good.

2 was one of the worst seasons. Unfortunately that blueprint of constant mass karate fights remained. And the fight choreography in those both suck and are nothing like the style of the old karate kid: one of the good things about season one was a lot of it felt like a return to that old fashioned karate. Basically they split the show now between a plot for the teenagers and a plot for the adults. And they have gone full soap opera. They've also gone in the direction of Karate Kid III in terms of over the top tone. The seasons where John Silver was the bad guy worked for that reason. The season where they got into Reese's backstory was a disappointment (I imagined a much more grounded Vietnam background to explain his craziness, but in the show they had to go goofy and make all his Vietnam Trauma involve death matches on a log over a snake pit). My view is season one is the best, season 2 was bad. Season 3 was okay (it is kind of uneven, but had some good moments). Season four and five were both enjoyable. Just getting into season 6 now.

One other element of the show that works is it targets people my age, who might not get of the stuff kids are into these days. So it feels like a show that is spared a lot of the annoying things that show up in entertainment these days (and if they do show up, it pokes fun at them)

This was the series that gave us Eagle Fang Karate! Yeah, we had to hear that eagles don't have fangs then...shut up, it was awesome.

I named a BattleTech mercenary group with origins in House Marik's FWL the Eagle Fangs because of the show.

There were a lot of up and down moments in the series, a lot of the time the fight choreography feels bad, but then you realize that the fights are mostly a metaphor for the emotional stability for whoever happen to be fighting.

I'd say if you gave up after season 2-3,  might be worth continuing now that its complete, but I over-all enjoyed the whole thing, even if there were parts I rolled my eyes at.

The over-arching story is that Johnny gets his life back together, and I was satisfied with how he resolved things with Kreese, and Silver got some comeuppance.    I still feel like the korea dojo being brought in could have been skipped and was kind of a writing dead-end unless they wanted to leave it open for a spin-off.

Finally finished season 6. I quite enjoyed it. Some of the things I quibbled about before stand, but mostly it worked. Not sure how I feel about the boat fight at the end, but I do like the arc they gave Johnny and Kreese. I am still not a fan of the large scale brawls they do, another aspect is how they take the clever exercises Miyagi did in the movies that could transfer into karate skills and make that the focus (but a lot of their ideas don't seem to translate into real martial moves the way Wax on, wax off might). There were a lot of lose threads and mostly they wrapped them up well. One beat I thought was pretty dumb was his daughter quitting a that being a positive thing. It just felt very anticlimactic. Also the constant meandering and switching of karate schools during an ongoing tournament was little wonky

This show is so candy ass. I couldn't get through the first three eps of Season 6.

The only cool guy is Johnny. Gives a few laughs.

Daniel san looks like a boy trapped in a man's body. His cast wife is too big, makes him look even more ridiculous, like a kid playing adult.

Why does Kreese learn karate in Korea now? Whu? Is it because the new kids don't give a fuck about Japan and Korea is now deemed cool?

Why are modern asian chicks in American productions ugly? That korean chick was no Tamlyn Tomita, that's for fucking sure.

The Power Rangers level drama between the valley kids is painful to watch.

I watched three episodes and I swear they were almost completely interchangeable.

The movie changed my life when I was 6.

Quote from: Spooky on March 27, 2025, 07:38:13 PMThis show is so candy ass. I couldn't get through the first three eps of Season 6.

The only cool guy is Johnny. Gives a few laughs.

Daniel san looks like a boy trapped in a man's body. His cast wife is too big, makes him look even more ridiculous, like a kid playing adult.

Why does Kreese learn karate in Korea now? Whu? Is it because the new kids don't give a fuck about Japan and Korea is now deemed cool?

Why are modern asian chicks in American productions ugly? That korean chick was no Tamlyn Tomita, that's for fucking sure.

The Power Rangers level drama between the valley kids is painful to watch.

I watched three episodes and I swear they were almost completely interchangeable.

The movie changed my life when I was 6.

Early parts of season 6 can be like that.

If you are open to suggestions, watch the very last episode of season 6, I thought it was great, if you don't like it then that's fine, but it is more about Johnny than the rest of season 6.

Quote from: Banjo Destructo on March 28, 2025, 01:58:45 PM

Quote from: Spooky on March 27, 2025, 07:38:13 PMThis show is so candy ass. I couldn't get through the first three eps of Season 6.

The only cool guy is Johnny. Gives a few laughs.

Daniel san looks like a boy trapped in a man's body. His cast wife is too big, makes him look even more ridiculous, like a kid playing adult.

Why does Kreese learn karate in Korea now? Whu? Is it because the new kids don't give a fuck about Japan and Korea is now deemed cool?

Why are modern asian chicks in American productions ugly? That korean chick was no Tamlyn Tomita, that's for fucking sure.

The Power Rangers level drama between the valley kids is painful to watch.

I watched three episodes and I swear they were almost completely interchangeable.

The movie changed my life when I was 6.

Early parts of season 6 can be like that.

If you are open to suggestions, watch the very last episode of season 6, I thought it was great, if you don't like it then that's fine, but it is more about Johnny than the rest of season 6.

Thanks but I don't know I think I'll just go back to rejecting anything made after 9-11. It's easier that way.

Quote from: Spooky on March 31, 2025, 12:23:29 AMThanks but I don't know I think I'll just go back to rejecting anything made after 9-11. It's easier that way.

If you don't mind reading spoilers I can share what happened and why I think its at least worthwhile for an end to the series.

Spoiler

The arrogant korean student gets killed in an accident at the world tournament, the tournament gets cancelled, then the last 6 episode part is the drama about whether to continue the tournament or not.  John Kreese decides he's done with karate and decides to leave, he repents to Johnny.  The korean dojo decides not to go back to the tournament, Kreese leaves Johnny in charge of Kobra Kai and he has Torry and Miguel in the finals of the tournament. Miagi-Do loses the tourney, Torry and Miguel both win against the Iron Dragon dojo, but the points end up as a tie,  so the Sensei's of the Dojo's have to fight to determine the ultimate winner.  Johnny faces off against the leader of the iron dragon dojo and ends up winning in a scene that is very similar to the first karate kid movie.
   I think its a very good redemption for Johnny Lawrence.  Before this all happens in the tournament, Johnny marries his girlfriend, she gives birth to their daughter, and one thing John Kreese ends up redeeming himself by exploding himself and John Silver on Silver's Yacht so he's not able to mess with people any more.

Quote from: Spooky on March 31, 2025, 12:23:29 AM

Quote from: Banjo Destructo on March 28, 2025, 01:58:45 PM

Quote from: Spooky on March 27, 2025, 07:38:13 PMThis show is so candy ass. I couldn't get through the first three eps of Season 6.

The only cool guy is Johnny. Gives a few laughs.

Daniel san looks like a boy trapped in a man's body. His cast wife is too big, makes him look even more ridiculous, like a kid playing adult.

Why does Kreese learn karate in Korea now? Whu? Is it because the new kids don't give a fuck about Japan and Korea is now deemed cool?

Why are modern asian chicks in American productions ugly? That korean chick was no Tamlyn Tomita, that's for fucking sure.

The Power Rangers level drama between the valley kids is painful to watch.

I watched three episodes and I swear they were almost completely interchangeable.

The movie changed my life when I was 6.

Early parts of season 6 can be like that.

If you are open to suggestions, watch the very last episode of season 6, I thought it was great, if you don't like it then that's fine, but it is more about Johnny than the rest of season 6.

Thanks but I don't know I think I'll just go back to rejecting anything made after 9-11. It's easier that way.

Even 24?

Quote from: Banjo Destructo on April 03, 2025, 02:16:10 PM

Quote from: Spooky on March 31, 2025, 12:23:29 AMThanks but I don't know I think I'll just go back to rejecting anything made after 9-11. It's easier that way.

If you don't mind reading spoilers I can share what happened and why I think its at least worthwhile for an end to the series.

Spoiler

The arrogant korean student gets killed in an accident at the world tournament, the tournament gets cancelled, then the last 6 episode part is the drama about whether to continue the tournament or not.  John Kreese decides he's done with karate and decides to leave, he repents to Johnny.  The korean dojo decides not to go back to the tournament, Kreese leaves Johnny in charge of Kobra Kai and he has Torry and Miguel in the finals of the tournament. Miagi-Do loses the tourney, Torry and Miguel both win against the Iron Dragon dojo, but the points end up as a tie,  so the Sensei's of the Dojo's have to fight to determine the ultimate winner.  Johnny faces off against the leader of the iron dragon dojo and ends up winning in a scene that is very similar to the first karate kid movie.
   I think its a very good redemption for Johnny Lawrence.  Before this all happens in the tournament, Johnny marries his girlfriend, she gives birth to their daughter, and one thing John Kreese ends up redeeming himself by exploding himself and John Silver on Silver's Yacht so he's not able to mess with people any more.

Yeah I think the season really worked. But it isn't for everyone. I will say as someone who doesn't tend to like newer shows, this one at least felt more like it was designed to entertain someone my age. It isn't pretty comedic so that tone might not work for everyone

Quote from: Spooky on March 27, 2025, 07:38:13 PMThis show is so candy ass. I couldn't get through the first three eps of Season 6.

The only cool guy is Johnny. Gives a few laughs.

Daniel san looks like a boy trapped in a man's body. His cast wife is too big, makes him look even more ridiculous, like a kid playing adult.

Why does Kreese learn karate in Korea now? Whu? Is it because the new kids don't give a fuck about Japan and Korea is now deemed cool?

Why are modern asian chicks in American productions ugly? That korean chick was no Tamlyn Tomita, that's for fucking sure.

The Power Rangers level drama between the valley kids is painful to watch.

I watched three episodes and I swear they were almost completely interchangeable.

The movie changed my life when I was 6.

I don't like the high school drama stuff either much, but the way I see it the show has a split audience between people my age (those of us who grew up when the karate Kid was in theaters) and people who are the age of the kids in the show. I am also not super into the big massive fights they do in the show (I feel like the style gets kind of 'modern stunt team' rather than more grounded 80s karate like they had in the first season. But still really like the show. And I thought this season kicked into gear once things got going. Your mileage may vary

On Alicia Hannah-Kim, this is totally subjective and I wouldn't tell anyone who they should or shouldn't find attractive. But I thought she was both tough and pretty. For most of the show she has her hair pulled up and I think her attractiveness is more obvious after she and Chozen hook up and her hair is down (she is also acting very different in that scene, being a bit more vulnerable, whereas in rest of the show she is more focused on discipline and being an instructor).

Obviously Tamlyn Tomita is very pretty. She does show up in the series in like season three I think (my impression is they probably did want her this season too but they likely couldn't coordinate it: because it felt like they took a slightly different direction than expected with her and Chozen)

QuoteOn Alicia Hannah-Kim, this is totally subjective and I wouldn't tell anyone who they should or shouldn't find attractive. But I thought she was both tough and pretty. For most of the show she has her hair pulled up and I think her attractiveness is more obvious after she and Chozen hook up and her hair is down (she is also acting very different in that scene, being a bit more vulnerable, whereas in rest of the show she is more focused on discipline and being an instructor).

yeah except they keep harping on how "hot" she's supposed to be and she has like young dudes hitting on her (I'm painfully trying to get through the last few eps so I can see the ending which sounds pretty good and saw this in the last ep). It's the Lucy Liu/that Asian doctor in ER phenomenon, a chick  who would be considered completely ordinary and plain in Asia is considered super hot in America.