We need to talk about Chozen, because he’s quickly becoming one of my favorite characters on Cobra Kai. (Spoilers ahead of you're not caught up on Cobra Kai through Season 5!)
As someone who has been a fan of so many other characters on the show like Johnny and Daniel, I’m genuinely and wholeheartedly in love with Chozen (played by Yuji Okumoto) after Season 5 of Cobra Kai. While this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Chozen in the hit sequel series, as we saw him in both Season 3 and Season 4, Season 5 is where he really got to be a main character for the first time.
And wow, I am so glad for that decision because he truly was one of the best parts of Season 5 as a whole. And today, I’m going to dive into it because he deserves all the love in the world. From nemesis in the Karate Kid film series to genuine ally, here are the reasons as to why I think Chozen was the best part of Season 5 of Cobra Kai.
We Really Got To See His Personality More Than Ever Before
As with any character that gets to be in the spotlight after some amount of time in the shade, Chozen was given the chance to really show off his personality in Season 5 of Cobra Kai. With more attention being shined on the character, I was nervous to see how he would fit in, but he was able to fit so organically into the story.
We get so many glimpses of his personality throughout the season, whether it be in the way he fights or in the way he speaks, but every time we really get to see a little bit more of Chozen than before. For example, in Episode 9 of Season 5, Chozen, Daniel, Johnny and the whole group go out to celebrate the fact that Carmen is going to have a baby, and while they’re out there, Chozen admits that he always held feelings for Kumiko.
At the end of the episode, we see this softer side of Chozen that we didn't necessarily get to see previously, where he makes a call to her to admit he wants to see her again. The scene included that smile on his lips that we don’t really get to see that often. Season 5 gave me that insight into his personality and I love that. Will we ever get to see him meet Kumiko again? These are the questions I need answered.
He Shares Qualities With Both Daniel And Johnny
Daniel (played by Ralph Macchio) and Johnny (played by William Zabka) are two starkly opposite characters that somehow work well together, but Chozen is more of a combination of both of them, in many ways. He shares so many traits between the two of them and we see that so much in Season 5.
For example, we see that he does have a strategic mind like Daniel. It’s why he ended up being allies with him at the end of Season 4 and during Season 5, because they have a lot of the same ideals as to how they want this situation with Silver to end. He thinks of the brilliant idea of posing as a local sensei to get into Silver’s dojo, and is able to find out valuable information from that. He can be really strategic when he wants to be.
But, Chozen can also be a bit of a hothead like Johnny and instantly turn to fighting when faced with a problem, such as the confrontation with Mike Barnes in his furniture store, or the fact that he also ran off with Johnny and Mike to fight Silver after their night out. He also loves those fighting weapons.
And yet, even if he has traits of both, he’s still so unique in his own way, and that’s something I can seriously appreciate as someone who has learned to love his character so much.
He Was Great Comedic Relief For Some Serious Moments
Dude, Chozen had no right to be that funny throughout Season 5 of Cobra Kai.
There were several moments during this season where I laughed literally out loud and it was usually because of Chozen. Like in the opening minutes of the first episode where Daniel’s wife walks in on Chozen swimming naked in their swimming pool and he says hello to her, butt naked, while she is trying to avert her eyes. The comedic timing was just perfect.
But what also makes him such a great comedic character is that he was such great comedic relief for some serious moments in the series. Like for example, during the episode, “Bad Eggs,” his whole entire hunt with the students of the unofficial Miyagi-Fang was rooted in some hilarious moments in the way he “killed” some of the eggs, but it was also teaching valuable lessons about friendship and the value of working as a team.
Or how about when Daniel was healing from that terrible fight with Silver and Chozen and Johnny teamed up together? We get one scene where the two of them are talking about Daniel and it’s just so funny to hear these two once-nemeses of this man talk about how “annoying” he was but how now, they respect him. It was a great combination of both funny and seriousness.
He Provided A Genuine Challenge For Silver
I’m going to be honest and say throughout both Seasons 4 and 5, I didn’t think Silver could ever be stopped. He was a true antagonist, but Chozen was seriously the only person who could really take Silver on in a fight, and we see that in that final fight the two had during the Cobra Kai Season 5 ending.
Chozen is able to injure Silver enough where he is on the ground, using their weapons against each other. If it wasn’t for Cobra Kai’s “no mercy” philosophy, Chozen would be the winner, but Silver swipes at Chozen’s back when he wasn’t looking and defeats him at the last minute. However, Silver is seriously winded from his fight with Chozen, and his weak state after this tussle is a big reason as to why Daniel was able to defeat him later on in the finale.
Chozen is a true master of the arts and is able to even find ways to take down Silver. If he had a “no mercy” attitude, I’m 99% sure Silver would be dead, but Chozen is better than that now.
He’s just been such a good character all around, and if Season 6 comes for Cobra Kai, I seriously hope he continues to grow as a character and become an even bigger star than he already is. In the meantime, the existing five seasons of Cobra Kai are streaming on Netflix now.
