(Spoilers for Cobra Kai will obviously be found below.)
One of the greater joys of Cobra Kai‘s fifth season is the abundance of Chozen. The Karate Kid II antagonist even faced off in fine warrior form with ultimate karate villain Terry Silver during a very cinematic poolside scene in the season finale, and those karate and dagger moves completely belonged to actor Yuji Okumoto.
An opening shot, however, prompted Yuji to call in reinforcements in the form of a butt double. That refers to another poolside scene where Daniel LaRusso’s wife, Amanda, wandered into the backyard and saw their guest in the midst of nude sunbathing. One butt cheek slipped into view, and Yuji didn’t feel prepared to let his tush shine for the camera. As he told Entertainment Weekly, he didn’t feel like a 63-year-old guy (sensei or not) should be doing the sun’s out/bum’s out thing:
“When I saw that [in the script], I said, ‘Oh my God, seriously? I’ve gotta show my butt on camera?’ … I said, ‘I don’t know if they want to see an old dude’s butt. Maybe you should get somebody else to do this.'”
Fair enough. Yuji did add, however, that he was slightly bummed that they had Chozen use a large towel to cover up rather than a “small little face towel,” but whatever the case, this moment sure set the tone for the season. Miyagi-do sat in disarray, and they needed to get it together and start training again. That happened for sure, and we later saw Chozen whip out his hidden daggers and hold his own against Terry Silver, at least until he grew distracted out of fear for his friends. Yet he walked out with only “a flesh wound,” whereas Terry’s gone for good. Now, we await a Season 6 announcement.
