GamesRadar+ VerdictWhile stopping short of earning its black belt, the second part of Cobra Kai’s final season is a significant improvement over its first – largely thanks to the Sekai Taikai karate tournament reinvigorating its plotlines and personal feudsPros+The focus on the Sekai Taikai freshens things up+The tournament matches don’t disappoint+The finale stands out as one of the show’s best episodes to dateCons-Repetitive storylines continue to punctuate the final season-The Mr. Miyagi sub-plot is unresolved and creatively unfulfilling
GamesRadar+ Verdict
GamesRadar+ Verdict
While stopping short of earning its black belt, the second part of Cobra Kai’s final season is a significant improvement over its first – largely thanks to the Sekai Taikai karate tournament reinvigorating its plotlines and personal feuds
While stopping short of earning its black belt, the second part of Cobra Kai’s final season is a significant improvement over its first – largely thanks to the Sekai Taikai karate tournament reinvigorating its plotlines and personal feuds
Pros+The focus on the Sekai Taikai freshens things up+The tournament matches don’t disappoint+The finale stands out as one of the show’s best episodes to date
The focus on the Sekai Taikai freshens things up
The tournament matches don’t disappoint
The finale stands out as one of the show’s best episodes to date
Cons-Repetitive storylines continue to punctuate the final season-The Mr. Miyagi sub-plot is unresolved and creatively unfulfilling
Repetitive storylines continue to punctuate the final season
The Mr. Miyagi sub-plot is unresolved and creatively unfulfilling
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Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy.
“I am tired of all this off-the-mat nonsense,” sensei Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim) spits during the second part of Cobra Kai’s final season. Given how the first five episodes limped towards the Sekai Taikai, it’s a line that neatly summarizes the belief that the Netflix series had outstayed its welcome.
Mercifully, Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 heeds its own advice and delivers an anime tournament arc-style that, for the most part, keeps the focus on the mat and delivers a full-throated flurry of punches and kicks, all laced with the sort of personal intrigue that made the early years of the show such an underdog success.
Fresh off of the defection of Tory (Peyton List) to Cobra Kai, the remaining Miyagi-do fighters must do battle in the Sekai Taikai – all while the ever-duplicitous Kreese (Martin Kove) waits in the wings for his opportunity to strike. With a 16-team tournament ahead of them, they must overcome the usual mix of personal rivalries, double-crosses, and professional jealousy to reign supreme as the ultimate winner of the Tournament of Champions.
Fast facts
Release date:November 15
Available on:Netflix
Episodes seen:5/5
Fighting fit
(Image credit: Netflix)
Cobra Kai also has a few curious choices when it comes to who receives the spotlight here. Sadly, this is no longer Miguel’s show, despite Xolo Mariduena clearly being a star on the rise with last year’s turn in DC’s Blue Beetle. William Zabka, barring one emotionally-charged moment, also has very little to do besides making snide remarks and giving pep talks – an odd choice given he is head and shoulders above most of the ensemble cast acting-wise.
The one narrative detour that does make sense is Daniel’s continued digging into Mr. Miyagi’s cloudy history. However, that doesn’t get any real closure here – and comes bundled with what appears to be the use of a clumsy AI deepfake that almost certainly won’t sit well with audiences.
(Image credit: Netflix)
Heading into this second part, I was expecting Cobra Kai to double down on my belief that it had overshot the perfect ending with last season’s Terry Silver showdown. I’m pleased to say those fears were misplaced; the new batch of season 6 episodes are fun, frenetic, and end in a place that leaves ample room for unexpected twists and turns as the Netflix series wraps up for good in 2025.
Cobra Kai, then, was clearly holding back. The first five episodes of its final season were meandering, low-stakes affairs. The second part, thanks to the Sekai Taikai, is a noticeable improvement. While it still fights familiar issues, including repetitive storylines and a lessened focus on some of the Netflix series' brightest stars, Cobra Kai returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place.
The second part of Cobra Kai season 6 is now streaming on Netflix. For more, check out our picks for thebest shows on Netflix.
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“Issues encountered during the initial launch are a genuine part of the game’s history”: Wuthering Waves producer on the road to 2.0 and the open-world action RPG’s biggest update yet
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