Although she is yet to been seen in the series, Julie Pierce is more important of a character
than you may think. And yes, while The Next Karate Kid is the weakest of the franchise as far as the
original movies, it's similar to the Karate Kid III, the other weakest of original films, that
it does have its good moments. The writers have confirmed previously that the film is canon to the
“Miyagiverse” that Cobra Kai takes place in, so we can definitely expect to see Julie in the future.
This is my character analysis, opinion and theory of how Julie Pierce paved the way - including
Next Karate Kid references in Cobra Kai, what characters she's similar to, and more.
Let's recap on what we know about Julie so far. Sometime after the events of Karate Kid III in
1985 (most likely 1994), Mr. Miyagi travels to Boston, Massachusetts and attends a ceremony
honoring the Japanese-American soldiers who fought in the 442nd. He meets Louisa Pierce,
who is a widow of his commanding officer Jack Pierce. Julie is introduced to Mr. Miyagi, though
it is evident she is still angry at the death of her parents and has issues with her grandmother.
Julie cares for an injured hawk named Angel at the school and breaks in at night to check up on it,
but is almost caught by security. To give Louisa a break, Mr. Miyagi invites her to take care of the
garden back in Los Angeles while he will stay and look after Julie. Julie also has problems with her
classmates at school, namely a student named Ned Randall, who is a member of the Alpha Elite led by
Colonel Dugan, who operates it with an iron fist and a very similar philosophy to John Kreese's
Cobra Kai. The Alpha Elite is a fraternity that enforces the school rules by any means necessary
(mostly physical), and Ned constantly harasses Julie, although she wants nothing to do with him.
She also meets and befriends Eric McGowen, another member of the Alpha Elite who is not as aggressive
and is only in so he could try to get into the Air Force Academy, as he helps with his family's
financial problems. After jumping into a tiger stance to avoid being hit by a car,
Mr. Miyagi reveals to Julie that he taught her grandfather karate as a way of thanks
for saving his life, and he in turn taught it to Julie's father, who taught it to Julie when she
was very young. When Julie sneaks out to feed Angel once again, she is chased throughout the
school and almost remains hidden until Ned discovers hee. However, the police shows up
and she is suspended for school for two weeks. After entrusting Eric to take care of Angel,
Mr. Miyagi takes Julie to a monastery to help her find balance and help her with her anger issues.
Although she is amazed by Mr. Miyagi's skills when he came to her aid at the gas station,
he expresses that fighting is not good and it should be the last answer. When they arrive at the
monastery, Mr. Miyagi (with the help of the monks) begins to train Julie in the ways of Miyagi-Do,
emphasizing on punches, kicks, and the ability to dodge. Julie also learns an important lesson
about respect for all living things from the monks and Mr. Miyagi, when she attempts to squash a bug.
Julie soon begins to excel at her training and before they leave the monastery,
the monks surprise her with a cake for her birthday. As Julie returns to school, she
finds out with Eric that Ned called Animal Control to take the hawk. With Mr. Miyagi's help, Julie
releases Angel into the wild after learning she can fly. As time passes, Mr. Miyagi teaches Julie
how to dance for the prom and plans to attend with Eric. It's evident that she has learned to
keep her negative emotions in check, making Mr. Miyagi proud. The Alpha Elite crash the prom and
when Eric and Julie kiss, Ned smashes Eric's car with the baseball bat, having followed them from
the dance. Ned challenges Eric to a fight at the docks, but the Alpha Elite overpowers Eric and set
fire to his car. Julie and Mr. Miyagi show up and she resolves to settle her feud with Ned,
and manages to use everything she's learned to overpower him. After Dugan tries to get others
to fight Julie, Mr. Miyagi says he will finish the fight with him and soundly beats Dugan.
When they walk away, Mr. Miyagi says “Fighting's not good... but if must fight,
win” and gives her a famous Miyagi wink. At this point, it's not clear what happened to Julie
afterwards, though the writers have confirmed that she would have met Daniel at Mr. Miyagi's funeral.
First, we need to address why Julie is so important. She is the archetype for
characters such as Aisha, Sam, and Tory. Julie is the first woman to not only be taught Miyagi-Do,
but also the first to be a main character compared to her counterpart Daniel. This would pave the way
for Sam as she is the second female student to learn Miyagi-Do canonically, although on-screen
we would first see Aisha practice martial arts in the dojo and during the All-Valley Tournament.
As mentioned in my previous video about her and to not rattle on too much about the similarities,
Tory is definitely the what-if possibility of Julie going down a darker path and joining a
rival dojo such as Cobra Kai. Although in Karate Kid Part II it is revealed that Sato was the only
other non-Miyagi outside of Daniel to be taught Miyagi-Do directly, it is retconned that during
World War II Jack Pierce, Miyagi's commanding officer and Julie's grandfather, was taught karate
as a means of thanks for saving his life. What is significant about this is that Julie's grandfather
passed it down to his son, who passed it on to Julie, similar to how Miyagi-Do was passed from
father-to-son in their lineage. As of Season 3, Julie is the only other living pupil who was
directly taught by Mr. Miyagi outside of Daniel that we know of. Both of these students are also
from the east coast – Daniel being from Newark, New Jersey, and Julie from Boston, Massachusetts.
The way she was trained by Mr. Miyagi is special in two ways – she is the only person onscreen to
directly learn how to punch and kick from Mr. Miyagi. Although Daniel was taught how to punch
later on, the emphasis of his training was more for defensive practice and to also learn balance
first. Daniel had to teach himself the Crane Kick and we do not see Mr. Miyagi teaching him how to
kick directly. Mr. Miyagi made the use of her spinning back kick and focused on improving her
strength and defense, specifically in improving the kick. The other special way that Mr. Miyagi
trained her with is with music and dancing. Julie's grandfather taught Mr. Miyagi how to waltz
and in turn, he passed it on to Julie. This helped her prepare for the dance and also helped with her
footwork, as he was training her with a 'karate waltz kata.' Julie is certainly the blueprint for
some of her modern day counterparts, which first we will start with Aisha. They are both the first
female student trained by Mr. Miyagi and Johnny respectively. They both deal with harassment
at school. Both also get payback against this person who has been harassing them by the end of
the respective movie/season. In Sam's case, both are the first female Miyagi-Do students. Both are
taught karate by their father at a very young age. Both have either their father or father figure as
their sensei. They are saved from harassment at different points of their respective movies and
seasons. Their father figure is also able to help them through a past trauma, be it the loss of a
parent or not giving into fear. Both are taught a special Miyagi-Do technique. Both are involved in
fighting for a significant other at some point, and both learn balance as a key part of their
training. Both are also known for using the wax on/wax off means of training taught by Mr. Miyagi,
and both are the only women to be trained by Mr. Miyagi directly. Both of their styles of training
specifically focused on balance, whether it be physical or emotional. Both are also suspended
from school for two weeks, and go on a date with a significant other, and end up kissing them at
this date. Lastly, we will briefly recap on her similarities to Tory. And I know I said I wouldn't
rattle off, but it is important to mention in this video. Both either lost a parent or both of their
parents. They also had prior marital arts training before training under their respective sensei.
Both have a sensei that become a father figure to them and looked after them. Both are known for
their delinquent behavior. Both have a first meeting with an eventual significant other
that doesn't go the greatest. Both are either expelled or face suspension. Both have a similar
fashion of crop tops. Their sensei interferes on their behalf in a fight or a confrontation.
Julie is known for her emphasis on kicks, much like Tory's prior kickboxing experience and who
also has the same technique. Both also go on a date “dressed up” for that appropriate event. They
have a kiss that same night, and fought someone else for a significant other, from a rival “dojo.”
Last but not least, they are able to overpower their male counterpart and rival.
Believe it or not, Cobra Kai has made subtle references to either Julie Pierce or The Next
Karate Kid in passing. In Season 1 Episode 2 “Strike First,” Daniel demonstrates to Kyler the
Unagi/Unagi Ba that is used for cutting sashimi, and serves the 'LaRusso Ponzu Toro.' In The Next
Karate Kid, when Miyagi is driving Julie to school, one of the food choices that he offers
to prepare for her birthday is sashimi. It is possible that this is the same recipe he taught to
Daniel later on, especially that all Miyagi were fishermen. In Season 2 Episode 1 “Mercy Part II,”
when Daniel tries to comfort Sam on her breakup with Miguel, she responds with
“Yeah, but not everyone has an insane karate cult that's brainwashing half the school.”
Although she is directly referencing Cobra Kai, this could also be applied to the Alpha
Elite in Next Karate Kid. The group almost had a cult-like mentality, especially because of its
leader Colonel Dugan and Eric commenting that it what was what the school was known for. In
Season 2 Episode 2 “Back in Black,” Daniel makes the comment that “it's been a long time since this
dojo has had more than one student.” Although this could be referring to Sato and Miyagi,
I'm inclined to believe it is referencing Daniel and Julie, as we now have Sam and Robby, who are
both counterparts to their previous predecessors. Not to mention, if he was talking Sato and Miyagi,
I think he would've said “it's been x amount of years since Miyagi-Do has had two students” or
something to that effect. In Season 2 Episode 3 “Fire and Ice,” when Daniel is trying to explain
to the two potential new recruits about Miyagi-Do training, they think of it as a scam for “them
to do his yard work.” This very similar to when Miyagi and Julie are talking while he is waxing
the car, as she refuses to learn through the “physical labor” (though later on finally sees the
importance of training). Last but not least, in Season 3 Episode 4 “The Right Path,” Kumiko talks
about her favorite place to visit being London. She mentions that she got to see the Cranberries
open for Radiohead and specifically mentions the song “Dreams,” as she saw this concert in 1995.
This song is featured in The Next Karate Kid where Julie and Mr. Miyagi are dancing with the monks,
not to mention this film's events took place in 1994. The song originally came out in 1993, but
was re-issued in April, 5 months before the Next Karate Kid was released on September 9th, 1994.
Here are my final thoughts on Julie and what we could possibly see from her in Cobra Kai.
Despite how you feel about the film, Julie was the first female Miyagi-Do student that paved
the way for Aisha, Sam, and Tory. Although the film isn't as memorable as Karate Kid I and II,
it still has its good moments and Julie's importance for being the first woman to be taught
by Miyagi shook things up in the 90s. Characters like Aisha, Sam, and Tory are very fine-tuned and
could've been what Julie was supposed to be in that film. Since we know that she's canon, I find
it hard to believe that she won't reappear in a one-off episode, similar to Chozen, Kumiko, and
Johnny's friends Bobby, Tommy, and Jimmy. Julie's significance of being the only other living pupil
taught directly by Mr. Miyagi definitely is something the writers can use to expand upon.
Although there is the rumor that Julie could be Tory's mother, it would really suck to write off
Julie in that manner, especially given what we know about her background. Either way, Season 4
of Cobra Kai is going to be great and I can't wait to see what's in store. And as you guys have seen
already, we are getting Cobra Kai this year at the end of 2021 in the last quarter of the year.
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