‘Cobra Kai’ Season 5: Ralph Macchio Reacts to Chozen Calling Him ‘Danielsan’
The most bittersweet aspect of Cobra Kai is that Pat Morita died long before the show premiered. The show has kept Mr. Miyagi’s spirit alive through fleshing out his backstory and including clips from the films. Cobra Kai Season 5 brings back Miyagi’s loving name for Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). When Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) joins Daniel, he now calls him “Danielsan.”
Macchio and Cobra Kai co-creator Jon Hurwitz reacted to the reintroduction of “Danielsan” to Cobra Kai Season 5. Showbiz Cheat Sheet attended roundtable interviews with Macchio on Aug. 26 and spoke with the creators on Aug. 9. Cobra Kai Season 5 premieres Sept. 9 on Netflix and we’ll have more with the cast and creators all month.
Ralph Macchio has always been Danielsan
For Macchio, the name “Danielsan” shows respect for Morita and his character. Even before Cobra Kai Season 5, Macchio has kept it alive in between The Karate Kid movies and the show.
“When I sign Karate Kid posters to, whether it’s a 12-year-old kid or a 72-year-old grandparent, I still sign my name and I write ‘Danielsan’ underneath in quotes,” Macchio said. “I pay homage to the respect of that original film.”
Chozen was a natural to call Daniel ‘Danielsan’ in ‘Cobra Kai’ Season 5
Hurwitz, who co-created the show with Josh Heald and Hayden Schlossberg, said it made sense for Chozen to pick up Miyagi’s moniker. Chozen was the antagonist in The Karate Kid Part II but redeemed himself in Cobra Kai Season 3.
“Chozen is such a special character in the franchise that to see where he began in Karate Kid II and what a villain he was in that world and the growth that he’s had and the awakening that he had in embracing the Miyagi-do teachings in a pure way as he moved forward,” Hurwitz said. “He’s so beloved that the work that we did with Yuji in season 3 was some of our favorite of that season. He’s not only badass but he’s hilarious. There’s so much soulfulness with him.”
Chozen is in every episode of this season.
“So when we brought him to the valley to join Daniel on this fight, it was only appropriate that he would refer to him as ‘Danielsan’ we felt,” Hurwitz said. “We felt that was what he would say. It feels right when you hear it out of his mouth. It’s something that gives, at least us, a little bit of the feels whenever he says it over the course of the season.”
Ralph Macchio agrees
Macchio expressed similar feelings in his answer. The “Danielsan” question led him to marvel at the relationship between Chozen and Daniel too.
That’s part of the joy of making Cobra Kai is that we go back and these guys bring up characters of yesteryear and flip ‘em on their ear, give ‘em the 180 redemption story. Yuji is such a joy and such an even keel guy to work with. He’s prepared, he is focused. He is exactly what you want a Miyagi-Do sensei to be. The Danielsan/Chozen friendship after them fighting to the death in 1986 is really quite a plot twist. What that relationship also does, I said it in season 3, it informs a lot of the growth between Daniel and Johnny because therein lies the proof that things can change for the better and you can make something work. He takes that back. I love this season that you see Chozen and Johnny Lawrence together, two LaRusso nemeses. I don’t know how this guy has so many enemies but it helps the story keep going so I guess we’ll embrace that.
Ralph Macchio, Cobra Kai Season 5 roundtable, 8/26/22
