‘Karate Kid’ Sequel Series ‘Cobra Kai’ Strikes First On YouTube Red With A Lot Of Love From Fans

YouTube Red is hoping that Cobra Kai, a sequel series that follows the events of The Karate Kid 34 years later, can be its version of House of Cards. Now that the first season of the action-packed nostalgia trip is available, will it live up to its lofty expectations and cement its distributor’s place among the giants of streaming television?

Well, kinda!

Cobra Kai has premiered to reviews both fantastic and begrudgingly positive, with some publications, such as ScreenRant, deeming it “great,” and others, such as NPR, calling it “surprisingly — maybe shockingly — not terrible” and “a crane kick of nostalgia to the throat. And no, not in a good way.

While those may not all sound like glowing and effusive critical accolades, YouTube Red (as Cobra Kai co-creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg) can smile about what seems to be a universally positive reception from Karate Kid fans.

The first episode of Cobra Kai, which is available for free, has drawn hundreds of loving comments from viewers and the season as a whole currently has a 71% on Metacritic and a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Even Cobra Kai‘s harshest critics have to admit its fun. NPR‘s Linda Holmes copped to watching all ten episodes of the show, despite the aforementioned “crane kick” dig. Having seen the first two episodes, I can corroborate that Cobra Kai, even if it may be rough around the edges, is good fun and makes for a nice easy watch.

If you want to watch Cobra Kai episodes beyond the first, you’ll need a YouTube Red subscription, which costs $9.99 per month. And if you feel that 10 episodes aren’t enough for you, don’t fret. Macchio has said publicly that he hopes to make more seasons of the show.