YMMV / The Karate Kid Part II

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Did Chozen refuse to follow Sato's orders and go out into the hurricane because of cowardice, or was it because it indicates he's so ingrained with crippling hatred for Miyagi that he would rather stand by than help Daniel save that little girl? Him running off alone into the storm out of shame immediately afterward seems to suggest it was mostly out of enmity towards his Uncle disowning him, but shame for his cowardice could've also been a factor.
  • Did Sato look distraught at Chozen's refusal because he displayed the same kind of cowardice he so hated, or could it be he's recognizing that he alone had shaped his nephew into this hate-filled young man? Or is it a bit of both?
• Awesome Music: "Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera.
• Broken Base: There's generally a lot of debate among Karate Kids fans whether the first or second movie was the better one. While the first remains an 80s classic, the sequel's handling of Okinawan culture as well as avoiding Sequelitis by repeating the first movie's formula (which was the big criticism of the 3rd movie) has won many fans over. Critics preferred the first one but audiences seemed to like the second slightly more.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • Mr. Miyagi fighting Kreese and winning. Given the previous movie ended with Kreese hardly being punished for badgering Bobby to cripple Danny and Johnny to exploit Danny's injured leg, it's all too satisfying to see Mr. Miyagi give him his comeuppance for his nasty attitude and poor sportsmanship. Martin Kove's epic Oh, Crap! expression also adds a ton, and has a lot of fans hoping to see it again in Cobra Kai.
  • Speaking of which, the events of the movie itself would also come back to help Daniel during Season 3 when he has a one-on-one fight with Kreese.
• Contested Sequel: Very few would consider it a bad or unworthy follow-up to the original, but whether it's an Even Better Sequel is definitely a point of contention. The movie is fondly considered for not recycling the first film beat for beat and for exploring the cultural shift respectfully. Its primary criticism is mostly that the plot is still somewhat predictable and ultimately First Installment Wins.
• Critical Dissonance: The critics gave this film a lower score than the first movie, but it made more money at the box office than the first one.
• Franchise Original Sin: The first film established a particular, iconic, pattern that has been emulated by sports and martial arts films to death, and this film is considered a passable sequel that changes that formula quite a bit. But within the franchise, the standby trope of Daniel getting beaten up by a rival only to be saved by Miyagi coming to the rescue started with this film, which started treating Miyagi as more of a superhero than a character. Subsequent films (and even Cobra Kai) would play further into that tone, to its own detriment.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The whole opening scene with Miyagi stepping in and saving Johnny when Kreese tries to kill him for coming in second to Daniel becomes this in light of later reveals in Cobra Kai.
  • First off, Johnny looked up to Kreese as a father figure because he never knew who his real father was and his stepfather was an arrogant bully who didn't care about him, Kreese trying to kill him likely reinterpreted the loss to Daniel in Johnny's mind. Because Kreese thought the loss was shameful, it became shameful in Johnny's mind too.
  • Kreese likely developed PTSD as a result of this, as shown by his reaction when Daniel has him in this exact same position and is prepared to finish him off.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • The fact that Mr. Miyagi saved Johnny when Kreese was nearly choking the latter to death. It's all too clear that 34 years later, Johnny remembers this enough for him to have little to no animosity for him or his dojo; only leaving that on to Daniel (due to his defeat contributing to his downfall and the latter's success). As a matter of fact, Johnny would later align more with Miyagi-Do than Cobra Kai after he teams up with Daniel in Cobra Kai Season 4, followed up by teaming up with Daniel again, this time with Chozen. There's a particular scene in Season 4 where Daniel reminds Johnny of the aforementioned Part II scene, prompting the latter to respect more of Miyagi-Do by continuing his "paint-the-fence" exercise.
  • Watching the film with Kumiko, Chozen, and Yuna's scenes from Cobra Kai in mind makes for a far richer experience. To go into specifics...
    • As an Expy for her aunt Yukie later in her life, Kumiko never married anyone despite getting woos from potential suitors since none of them fought to the death for her (unlike Daniel himself). Even though she knew Daniel eventually moved on and had a family with someone else, she still did everything she could to make his life happier (i.e., revealing Mr. Miyagi's letters to Yukie, bringing a fully-reformed Chozen back into Daniel's life, and having Daniel see Yuna again for a potential surprise). Which leads to...
    • Chozen Toguchi going through a complete redemption arc. Who would've thought the man who once tried to kill Daniel would re-enter in Daniel's life as a changed man, teach him new Miyagi-Do moves, and go all the way to America to teach Daniel's students more Miyagi-Do Karate and stop Terry Silver from expanding his dojo? Even better, he's pretty much all but Daniel's closest friend at this point, and has even extended it to his family, his students, and his former rivals — Johnny and Mike.
    • Yuna is a rather big one. Daniel saves her life when he climbs the tower to rescue her from the typhoon. She repays him years later by saving Daniel's business.
  • Daniel spending his entire college fund on his trip to Okinawa, and then subsequently spending the money he made from the bet with Chozen on Mr. Miyagi's bonsai tree shop in Part III, becomes more heartwarming when Cobra Kai reveals Daniel never actually went to college but still managed to become a successful car dealer, proving that his sacrifice for Mr. Miyagi's happiness was not to his own detriment and that there is more than one path to success for a Working-Class Hero like him.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • During the climactic battle, Chozen wears a bright yellow vest that makes him look eerily similar to another Japanese warrior.
  • The scene where Daniel details him and Ali breaking up to Mr. Miyagi after Season 3 of Cobra Kai reveals the truth, that almost everything Daniel said was either a lie or something he completely misinterpreted.
    Ali: So, I got into UCLA and I ran into this guy that I knew who went there, Daniel sees me talking to my friend.
    Daniel: Your "friend."
    Ali: Yes, he was my friend, actually. He jumps to conclusions. Well, I was a bit upset, so I probably, maybe egged you on.
    Daniel: Listen, I thought you were in love with the guy.
    Ali: I told you. Just like I told you that the brakes on Mr. Miyagi's car were gonna go.
    Daniel: (awkward silence)
    Ali: I hope you didn't tell him that it was my fault that it crashed.
    Daniel: (beat) No, of course not.
    Johnny: This is the best story I have ever heard. Please, keep going.
  • It doesn't take rocket science for one to assume that Chozen was a much more vicious rival that Johnny. Fast forward to Cobra Kai Season 5, and Chozen lampshades this (as well as his issues with Daniel) during his playful banter with Johnny himself.
    Chozen: Hah, Daniel-san told me how "dangerous" you can be.
    Johnny: Did he mention how I kicked his ass back in high school?
    Chozen: I robbed him. While he was on date.
    Johnny: Oh yeah? I pushed him down a cliff.
    Chozen: I fight him to death.
    Johnny: Oh yeah? What are you a ghost or something?
    Chozen: No! Daniel-San showed me mercy.
    Johnny: Yeah, sounds like LaRusso. Man, he was such a twerp back then!
    Chozen: Ah, real pain in ass.
• Memetic Mutation: The opening scene. Right after Mr. Miyagi freaks out Kreese by making it seem like he's not going to hold back, Daniel tells Mr. Miyagi he could've killed him and asks why he didn't. Given how weird it would be for someone to ask that question, especially given Mr. Miyagi's cheesy morality-based response—"Because, Daniel-san, for person with no forgiveness in heart, living even worse punishment than death"—many people have replied back with more hilarious results, like "police would arrest Miyagi for murder. Idiot." or "in 33 years, Miyagi want Daniel-san to ask, 'How's your knuckles, Kreese?'" or "Miyagi want Daniel-San to reenact this scene for Cobra Kai's Season 3 finale" or "When owners of cars with broken windows arrive, they kill him themselves."
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • John Kreese came off pretty unsympathetic when he nearly choked his own student to death over losing a karate tournament.
  • Chozen serves as your typical Jerkass rival for most of the movie until he crosses a line by taking Kumiko hostage and even threatening to kill Kumiko should Daniel not fight him. Years later in Cobra Kai, a grown up Chozen would come to consider this action to be this for him, thinking it "unforgivable" and making him unworthy of pursuing Kumiko's love.
• Narm Charm: "Glory of Love" would've been a super ultra narmy and cheesy love song that is disgustingly sweet... if it wasn't performed by a pro like Peter Cetera, who makes it really charming.
• Retroactive Recognition: B.D. Wong appears as a boy from Okinawa and Clarence Gilyard participates in the ice-breaking scene.

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