Kreese has got to be the ugliest SOB out there
Worse than Mickey Rourke for me - just literally nauseating to have to look at his face.
The only positive thing I can say is, he aged really well.
He wasn’t that bad-looking. He was gruff, hard-looking. But ugly is being harsh.
His hard appearance fit his character. He is the show’s antagonist
I agree, he's not ugly, he is more 'scary' in his monsterlike looks.
He has a very weird-looking face as an old man, whereas he looked more 'human' when he was in the first movie(s).
Some people look ridiculously different from their younger selves when they age, and this show shows it. It took me a long while to be able to even see 'Kumiko' in the actor's older face, because although she still looks good for her age, doesn't seem to have any of that 'semi-exotic oriental beauty'-shine she used to, when she was younger.
In fact, I was almost sure it can't be the same actor, but checking multiple sources, I guess I have to realize she is.
Kreese has changed almost as drastically, when you put those faces side by side, it's not immediately obvious that it's the same entity, but it is. His face does look like it's more 'crumpled' or something, it's hard to describe, and it can look weird, almost 'alien', a bit monsterlike and off-putting, but I wouldn't use the word 'ugly', as it's clearly something different, something separate.
There's an almost 'handsome eloquence' to his face now.
Ugly is something that's hard to look at, something repulsive you have to turn your head away from, something you just don't want to ever see again (I once had an ugly friend, it was so difficult to ever look at that face, I always tried to minimize the amount of time I did that, but sometimes accidents happened and I almost literally vomited).
I would like to take this opportunity to express my astonishment at how pretty much everyone in the show looks remarkably good, especially considering their age. I have a soft spot for the Okinawan 'enemy' that taught Daniel-san the akupoint attacks (I can't bring myself to say 'acu', since japanese does not have a 'c'), he's absolutely great in all respects, and really elevates the Japan-trip in the show. Obviously, Kumiko-san is great, too.
There's one subtle thing I wonder if people noticed; Kumiko doesn't use a honorific..
When Kumiko-san is sayind Daniel's name, she doesn't use 'san' or any other honorific.
Some might think this is a goof, but it's actually realistic; friends, lovers, etc. don't use honorifics, because they know each other, and it's more friendly that way. In fact, it would be a bit like calling your friends 'mister' or 'miss' - it would just sound weird and be 'katai', too formal.
Then again, some of the interactions are unrealistic, and Daniel's attitude is sometimes so wrong. When the guy (I forgot his name, too tired to research it right now) approaches in the bar, Daniel is apprehensive, 'ready to fight', scared, tense, all those bad energies.
He could've been friendly, and actually, I don't know, GREETED him or something. I was almost screaming at the TV, 'GREET HIM ALREADY!', but he never did. It was so weird and unnecessarily tension-creating. I would just have had a friendly attitude and said 'konnichi wa!' or maybe 'ohayou gozaimasu', and possibly added casually, 'ohisashiburi desu ne!'
But no, Daniel just tenses up with fear in his eyes, and just stares and says nothing. THIS kind of overly-dramatic things are a bit childish in this show, so as much as I have praised Cobra Kai as a TV show, it's not perfect, it has its pitfalls and annoying parts.
On the whole, though, the Japan-trip was amazing, and made me realize many things about my own life (not by how the showmakers wanted to, though - for one example, the plant near the back wall in the bar made me remember something, and I just stared at the plant for a long time, experiencing a lot of stuff internally).
Considering what garbage world this has become, and how bad movies and TV shows are, this show is the best TV show of the modern time.
Please note, I didn't dilute it into 'one of the best', it's THE best, period. (Well, there was a comma as well)