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The answer is simple. Anime fans, and fans of stories, love conflict, and sports inherently have conflict. A fan’s favorite team or player is easily understood as the protagonist and the opposing team or player is understood as the antagonist. Mix together the tight knight way teammates bond over their sport, and a natural found family is created, a beloved feature of anime ranging fromNanatoNaruto.
The closest equivalent to a live-action sports anime, barring actual live-action adaptations of sports anime like theChihayafuru film trilogy, is none other thanCobra Kai.Cobra Kaiis a unique show. Its roots are in theKarate Kidfilm franchise, but the series chooses to focus on the bully from the first film, Johnny Lawrence. Cobra Kai re-imagines Johnny years later as a down-on-luck man without a purpose until he defends a defenseless kid from bullies. On paper, it sounds like the series would just be another cynical remake, but the love and care put into the show, not just for the original characters, but for the new ones as well,catapultedCobra Kaiinto popularity.It is action-packed, silly, and full of heart. It is basically a sports anime.
Karate Dominates the Valley
When we first meet Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso inCobra KaiSeason 1, they still have vivid memories of how things went down in the 1984 Under 18 All-Valley Karate Championship tournament. This makes sense because, shockingly, everyone else in the San Fernando Valley seems to as well. Daniel has even made it a core part of advertising his used car business. Minor characters often appear, as recently as Season 6 Part 1, who comment on Johnny’s past performance in karate tournaments. Everyone is obsessed with teenage karate with the same fervor as a school in a sports anime. (With Daniel’s wife Amanda being the notable exception, often providing a little reality to the drama.) Fittingly, the All-Valley Tournament Board, when we’ve seen them in action, appears to operate like ashady anime student council.
Additionally, the show’skarate fights aren’t just awesome, though they are, but they’re also representative of the battle of the soul for the Valley itself. Season 5’s main conflict would be whether Terry Silver, practically Cobra Kai’s bond villain, would succeed in taking over the Valley with his infestation of bad karate dojos. It was up to Daniel and Johnny to not just bring Silver to justice, but to bring the balance back to the Valley with their good and right styles of karate.
Rivals (Often) Become Friends
Cobra Kai, and by extensionKarate Kid, are nothing without its rivalries. Although the road has been long, Daniel has defeated and befriended all of his former rivals, including Johnny Lawrence, Chozen Toguchi, and Mike Barnes. After various fights, Miguel and Robby have put aside their differences and even Sam and Tory have finally buried the hatchet, allowing for Tory to finally have herwell-deserved heroic turn. This season, even Demetri uses his rage about Hawk seemingly abandoning their MIT dream to defeat his friend for a spot in the Sekai Takai. More often than not, these rivalries end up for the better, with both parties becoming friends, but still occasionally bumping heads. This is not dissimilar toAomine and Kagami’s dynamic inKuroko No Basket.
The Show Isn’t Serious, But the Characters' Feelings Are
One ofCobra Kai’s greatest strengths is one of the greatest strengths of all the great sports anime. The show doesn’t take itself too seriously, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t take the characters' feelings seriously.Keijo!!!!!!!!has a deeply silly premise, even for sports anime, centering on a fictional sport where women use specific body parts to knock each other into a pool. Fanservice might abound, but the show makes a great effort to show how much the characters care about the sport and each other. Some even rank it as one of thebest sports anime of all time. There’s alsoBig Windup!,where baseball games span episodes and require the same intensity, albeit in a much more internal way, as aDragonball Zfight.Cobra Kaioperates similarly. Karate gives these characters purpose. It helped them learn to defend themselves, gave them a father figure (for better or for worse), and provided them with a much-needed community. For characters like Chozen and Kim Da-Eun, karate is a way to continue tradition and legacy. So, while there are a lot of fun, action-packed scenes,Cobra Kaimakes sure to pack a punch when it comes to the heart as well.
Cobra Kai, like sports anime, isn’t for everyone. All genres have their fans and detractors. However, for fans that like that fighting spirit mixed with comedy and heart,Cobra Kaiis as good as it gets. As it reaches the end of itssixth and final season, it will leave a hole in American popular culture. As sad as that is, it is for Johnny’s story to end. However, if fans still need something to scratch that itch, there’s alwaysgreat sports animeto explore.
Netflix
Netflix is one of the most popular and widely viewed streaming services in the world. Beginning with its mail order DVD service, Netflix has since grown into an entertainment juggernaut, with original shows and movies including Squid Game, Stranger Things, The Irishman, and The Killer.
