Cobra Kai Sadly Shows That Chozen Never Had Any Honor (Until Now)

Warning: SPOILERS for Cobra Kai Season 5A surprising Cobra Kai season 5 flashback showed that Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okomoto) grew up without honor, but he is now one of the most honorable men in Daniel LaRusso’s (Ralph Macchio) life. Cobra Kai season 5 picks up immediately after LaRusso flew in his “karate cousin,” Chozen, from Okinawa at the end of Cobra Kai season 4. Daniel-san swore on the grave of Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita) that he would stop Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) and Cobra Kai with Chozen’s help.

Chozen was the villain of The Karate Kid Part II, and he was a one-dimensional bad guy whose purpose was to hound Daniel-san in ways his high school rival, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), didn’t. Chozen is the nephew of Sato Toguchi (Danny Kamekona), who was the childhood best friend-turned-blood enemy of Mr. Miyagi. When LaRusso accompanied Miyagi back home to Okinawa, Chozen decided to make the student of his uncle’s rival his own enemy. After tormenting Daniel and his new girlfriend, Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), Chozen fought LaRusso to the death, although the victorious Daniel-san spared Toguchi’s life. Already dishonored, Chozen fled in complete disgrace, even after his uncle Sato regained his own honor by making amends with Miyagi. But when Chozen returned in Cobra Kai season 3, he was a new man who became a friend to Daniel-san.

Cobra Kai season 5’s flashback to Chozen’s youth illustrates just how much he has grown as a person. In 1972 Okinawa, a very young Chozen (Shigi Ohtsu) was cheated during karate training with his uncle Sato (Akihiro Kitamura). Although Sato was a merciless taskmaster, forcing his students to repeatedly karate chop their fingertips into buckets of sand, little Chozen used pillows in the sand to soften the blows. Even after Sato exposed his deception, Chozen continued to cheat. He continued this pattern of behavior when he met Daniel, who similarly exposed his cheating the farmers of Tome Village (although, as Chozen later realized, he was really cheating himself of profits). However, Chozen’s off-screen transformation in the 30+ years since The Karate Kid Part II has been remarkable.

Chozen Went From Karate Kid II Villain To Cobra Kai Season 5 Hero

The old selfish and cruel Chozen from The Karate Kid Part II is gone, and the older, wiser Chozen is arguably the best person in Cobra Kai season 5. True to his word, Chozen had Daniel-san’s back against Terry Silver, although he was perhaps a little too eager to fight first and ask questions later, as Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) and his employees found out. Chozen briefly infiltrated Cobra Kai as a new sensei until Silver exposed him, but Terry also recognized what a formidable enemy Chozen really is. Toguchi handily defeated Silver’s other sensei applicants, and the only reason Terry was able to beat Chozen one-on-one was because Toguchi was partly inebriated and had already fought Silver’s international Cobra Kai senseis alongside Johnny and Mike. Thankfully, Chozen survived Terry’s sword wounds and saw Silver get exposed and arrested at the end of Cobra Kai season 5.

Chozen proved his genuine quality in Cobra Kai season 5, and he became the closest thing the series has had to Mr. Miyagi himself. Along with being the best hand-to-hand combatant in Cobra Kai, Chozen was also a loyal friend to Daniel-san, and he mentored Sam LaRusso (Mary Mouser) while training the rest of the Miyagi-Do students in his unorthodox way. Best of all, Chozen confessed his love for Kumiko, and hopefully, he will get the chance to tell her in Cobra Kai season 6. Chozen has completely changed from how he behaved in his youth, and he has truly become a man of honor.

Cobra Kai Season 5 is streaming on Netflix.