The Karate Kid
Tags: violence

Plot synopsis:
High school senior Daniel LaRusso and his mother, Lucille, move from Newark, New Jersey to Reseda, Los Angeles, California. When they arrive, Daniel meets a neighbor, Freddy Fernandez, who invites him to a beach party taking place the next day. Their maintenance man is an eccentric but kind and humble Okinawan immigrant, Kesuke Miyagi.
At the beach party, Daniel meets Ali Mills, a high school cheerleader from Encino. The two fall for each other, which draws the attention of Johnny Lawrence, Ali's ex-boyfriend. Johnny is the top student of a karate dojo called "Cobra Kai," who attacks Daniel when he intervenes after Johnny breaks Ali's radio. Johnny and his gang continue to bully, bother, and harass him. At a Halloween party, Daniel douses Johnny with water, leading to a chase. Daniel is eventually caught and beaten savagely, but Mr. Miyagi arrives and rescues him and beats up the five attackers with ease. Amazed, Daniel asks Miyagi to teach him to fight. Miyagi refuses, but agrees to accompany Daniel to the Cobra Kai dojo to resolve the conflict. They meet with the sensei, John Kreese, an ex-Special Forces Vietnam veteran, who dismisses the peace offering and demands to set up a match between Daniel and the other Cobra Kai students. Miyagi proposes that Daniel will enter the Under-18 All-Valley Karate Tournament, where he can compete with all the Cobra Kai students, and he requests that the bullying cease while Daniel trains. Kreese agrees to the terms, but warns that if Daniel doesn't show up at the tournament, the harassment will continue on Daniel and Miyagi.
Daniel's training starts with menial chores he believes only makes him Miyagi's slave. When he becomes frustrated, it is explained that these actions have helped him learn defensive blocks through muscle memory. Their bond develops and Daniel learns about Miyagi's dual loss of his wife and newborn son due to complications arising from childbirth at Manzanar internment camp while he was serving with the 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II in Europe, where he received the Medal of Honor, the Army's highest award for valor. Through Miyagi's teaching, Daniel learns not only karate but also important life lessons such as the importance of personal balance, reflected in the principle that martial arts training is as much about training the spirit as the body. Daniel applies the life lessons that Miyagi taught him to strengthen his relationship with Ali.
At the tournament, Daniel unexpectedly reaches the semi-finals. After Johnny defeats a highly skilled opponent, Kreese instructs Bobby Brown, one of his more compassionate students and the least vicious of Daniel's tormentors, to disable Daniel with an illegal attack to the knee. Bobby reluctantly does so, getting disqualified in the process. Daniel is taken to the locker room, where the physician determines that he can't continue, but Daniel believes that if he doesn't continue, his tormentors would have gotten the best of him. So he convinces Miyagi to use a pain suppression technique so that he can continue. As Johnny is about to be declared the winner by default, Ali tells the master of ceremonies that Daniel will fight. Daniel then hobbles into the ring and faces Johnny.
The match is halted when Daniel uses a scissor leg technique to trip Johnny and deliver a blow to the back of the head, giving him a nose bleed. Kreese orders Johnny to sweep Daniel's injured leg, an unethical move. Johnny, horrified at the order, insists he can beat Daniel legitimately, but obeys under Kreese's intimidation. As the match continues, Johnny seizes Daniel's leg and delivers a vicious blow, doing further damage. Daniel, standing with difficulty, assumes the "Crane" stance, a technique he observed Miyagi performing on the beach. Johnny lunges toward Daniel, who jumps and delivers a kick to Johnny's chin, winning the tournament. Having gained respect towards his nemesis, Johnny takes Daniel's trophy from the master of ceremonies and presents it to Daniel himself as Daniel is carried off by the enthusiastic crowd.

Review: Oh my god, I can't believe I still remember this cartoon!. The Karate Kid (1989) was a cheesy saturday morning cartoon thatdebuted on N.B.C.  The cartoon was real hokey and I didn't stick with it (the phony voices had something to do with it).  The plots made part threelook innovative.  Man, I thought I was dreaming that this show ever existeduntil I saw it on this site.  I knew I wasn't hallucinating!  Like most 80'snostalgia nothing was worth remembering and this series is one of them.Bad cartoon spun off of a dead in the water franchise. Nothing torecommend (unless you're a masochist).