Cobra Kai: Who’s The Woman Who Saved Daniel?

Warning: SPOILERS for Cobra Kai season 3.

In Cobra Kai season 3, Daniel LaRusso’s (Ralph Macchio) car dealership was saved from bankruptcy and he can thank Yuna (Traci Toguchi), an old friend from The Karate Kid Part II who became his unexpected savior. But Yuna was also paying Daniel-san back for saving her life when she was a child, which just goes to show how good deeds can come back around.

The Karate Kid Part II was set during the summer of 1985. Daniel accompanied his sensei, Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita), back home to Okinawa to see his dying father, and LaRusso got to know the life Mr. Miyagi left behind when he moved to the United States decades before. Daniel-san saw Mr. Miyagi reunite with his love Yukie (Nobu McCarthy), and he learned about Miyagi’s ex-best friend-turned-enemy, Sato (Danny Kamekona), who wanted to fight him to the death. LaRusso also romanced Yukie’s niece, Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), and gained a new enemy in Sato’s nephew, Chozen (Yuji Okumoto). But, in terms of Cobra Kai season 3, perhaps the most pivotal new friend Daniel-san made was Yuna, a little girl whose life he saved when a typhoon struck Tomi Village.

In Cobra Kai season 3, Daniel traveled to Japan because his car dealership, LaRusso Auto Group, was in danger of going out of business. As a result of the public turning on the LaRussos after Miyagi-Do karate took the blame for the West Valley High brawl that left Cobra Kai’s Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena) critically injured, the LaRusso Auto Group saw sales instantly plummet. Worse, their rival, Tom Cole (David Shatraw), entered into an exclusive deal with Doyona Motors, which would ensure the LaRussos dealership would go under. But Daniel’s meeting with Doyona met a dead end and the Japanese firm refused to break their contact with Cole’s dealership. Desperate, LaRusso took a side trip to Okinawa in hopes that he could find the answer he needed in Mr. Miyagi’s home – and he did, thanks to the lasting relationships Daniel-san made in The Karate Kid Part II.

Fortuitously, Daniel ran into Kumiko when he arrived in Tomi Village Green, and they not only reconnected instantly, but she opened the doors to Daniel’s salvation. Not only did Kumiko show Daniel the romantic side of Mr. Miyagi by sharing his love letters with Yukie, which let Daniel-san see his late sensei in a new light, but Kumiko also contacted Chozen, who has not only changed but made peace with Daniel. However, Kumiko’s last surprise was his best: she called Yuna, who was the little girl Daniel saved in the 1985 typhoon, but all grown up.

It turns out Yuna is the international sales director for Doyona and, as she put it to Daniel-san, “I’m about to save your business.” Laudably, Cobra Kai also showed its commitment to properly homaging The Karate Kid Part II by casting Traci Toguchi, who played the little girl in the film (and was credited as Girl Bell Ringer), to play her character as an adult, and revealing that her name is Yuna. It’s also heartwarming that, as Kumiko put it, “the good [Daniel] put out into the world” has a chance to come back to help him.

Daniel draws a lot of ire for his temper and his negative traits, and some of it is deserved. But LaRusso was his noblest and best self in The Karate Kid Part II. He was a stalwart friend to Mr. Miyagi, who suffered the loss of his father, he was kind, curious, and attentive as he romanced Kumiko and learned her culture, and he was truly heroic during the typhoon when he helped Miyagi save Sato’s life, rescued Luna, and fought Chozen. Of course, the friends Daniel-san made in Okinawa never forgot him and, 30 years later, Kumiko and Yuna were happy to come to LaRusso’s rescue in Cobra Kaiseason 3 the way he did for them in The Karate Kid Part II.

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