credit: The Karate Kid
Decades ago, a story was brought to light that wasn’t perfect, but it was satisfying in the same way that a home-cooked meal is satisfying, it leaves you ready to move on, and it remains a good memory that you want to keep. The Karate Kid served this purpose for decades before Cobra Kai came around for a number of reasons, but one of the best was that Mr. Miyagi was one of the best characters in the entire franchise.
People have debated who was really at fault when it comes to Daniel and Johnny, and some have even labeled Daniel as the villain, but when it comes to Mr. Miyagi, it’s safe to say that a lot of people had never found any fault with him since he’s been the wise sensei, the mentor that Daniel needed, and a man that had lost a great deal before he ever met his young student/friend.
There’s a story to Miyagi’s life that has been glossed over for the most part since much of what goes into this character has to do with the relationship he forms with Daniel, while much of his past remains hidden until the second movie, and when The Next Karate Kid comes along.
credit: The Karate Kid
A prequel, whether a movie or a TV show, would need to focus heavily on Miyagi through the years.
This really depends on whether the idea would blossom into a movie or a series since a movie would be a tough fit for the life of a man such as Miyagi, though it could also be something that might give the high and low points of his existence. Depending on who took over the project, it feels likely that highlighting some of the more important memories of his life would be necessary, but it would be nice to see a representation of his village as it was before it was dominated by a military base.
Plus, it would be great to see some of the more iconic moments, such as when he learned the drum technique with his father or when he and Sato found a piece of driftwood on the beach since these are moments that came along in the second movie that is highly memorable. Even watching Miyagi learn his family’s karate would be a great idea since it would show the young man behind the mentor he would later become.
It feels that Sato should be a part of this story as well.
Pretty much everyone who was seen in the second Karate Kid movie should be a part of the series or movie if this ever happens since they all had at least something to do with Miyagi’s life as he grew up. But watching how he had to leave his home would be gut-wrenching since the story is, at this point, that he left to avoid having to take on his friend in a death match over a woman.
Plus, Miyagi would later on become a part of the US military and would take a wife who later died, along with their child. It does feel as though this spinoff would be packed with a great deal of emotion since Miyagi did not have a perfect or even satisfactory life at times, and the man that everyone was introduced to in the 80s had already gone through more than his share of emotional hardship and toil. Seeing him go through it in his younger years would no doubt be heartbreaking for a lot of people.
credit: The Karate Kid
Maybe the ending of this prequel series could conclude when Mr. Miyagi moves to Reseda.
That might be a great idea since it would be some time before Daniel and his mother would arrive, but it could help to explain why he became a handyman when there are so many other things he might have done. Mr. Miyagi has a lot more to him it would appear that the movies tend to show at times, especially when it comes to why he left his home, how he came to California, how long he served in the military, and so forth.
It’s easy to think that Cobra Kai might exist on the periphery of this tale.
Obviously, there was some time during this period when John Kreese and Terry Silver were setting up Cobra Kai, and it’s fair to think that Miyagi might have noticed it since they were the premier karate champions in the valley. But it’s just as easy to think that he would have nothing to do with it simply because he didn’t want to fight and didn’t see the need to curtail something that wasn’t truly hurting anyone.
Some might want to call Daniel out for inciting a skirmish between himself and Cobra Kai, but Miyagi inserted himself into the mix, so it’s not entirely accurate to say he did nothing. In the spinoff though, it might be wise to show Cobra Kai in its beginning phase just to entice the fans.
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