Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: cobra kai, karate kid

Cobra Kai Composers Talk Season 6 Part 3, "Final Fantasy" Inspiration

Cobra Kai composers Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson discuss Season 6, Part 3, why the brawl in Part 2 was difficult, what's next, and more.

Cobra Kai composers Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson have been with creators Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald since day one to help build off the existing The Karate Kid lore, strong balanced narratives, and epic returns. As there were several surprising moments and epic fights, the duo promises the showrunners will certainly stick to their landing once the chaos from season six part two gets sorted, with part three coming out in February 2025. Birenberg and Robinson spoke to Bleeding Cool about how season six created challenges they haven't encountered before on the Netflix series, how the Square video game franchise Final Fantasy became an inspiration for those epic fights, how part three compares to season six's earlier parts, and if they're involved with any work leading to the upcoming The Karate Kid Legends.

Cobra Kai Composers Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson on Sekai Taikai Challenges like Multi-Dojo Brawl & More

Bleeding Cool: What was the most difficult theme or scene to score in 'Cobra Kai?'

Birenberg: I'm curious if Zach has the same answer, but I would say the last 20-25 minutes of episode ten (season six) is one giant fight like every character is involved. On top of that, there is a giant build to the entire sequence that culminates in Kwon's (Brandon H. Lee) "accident," we'll call it. How do you sustain the tension and energy for 20 minutes? That was a big challenge for us. We thought about it a lot and we paid a lot of attention to how we were structuring the scenes to make each punch exciting but also feel like there was this large macro build to the whole thing that feels worthy of the end of the season.

Robinson: I agree. To anyone, that [sequence] was challenging; scoring action itself is challenging. There are a lot of notes, we've done a lot, certainly for this show. We normally have karate fights and breaks [in between]. There's a point that gets scored, then there's a break, and we can come down. This [part two end fight] was about 15 to 20 minutes of nonstop fighting, and we're proud of how we paced it. A big influence was the soundtracks to 'Final Fantasy.'

I listen to a lot of 'Final Fantasy' music, but, like, the music in those games are very long tracks, so I was like, "How do these tracks get paced, and how do they ebb and flow?" That was a big influence and then decided when it gets from chaotic. It goes from "fun chaotic" to "pure chaos" to "shit is starting to get serious." Once Axel (Patrick Luwis) sees Sam (Mary Mouser) get kicked by Kwan, there's a shift in the music. That's where we decided to go. We slow it down and get heavier. If you can, pick it up because it's such a change from the last 15 minutes of music we heard.

With parts one and two, there's the buildup to get to the tournament, and there's the tournament itself. How does part three tonally and thematically compare to the first two parts? Is it something that fits consistently with the others? Is it melancholic? What can we look forward to with a mind to spoilers, of course?

Birenberg: It is the conclusion of the series, and thematically, we worked extra hard to field that musically. All these teams come to their proper conclusion, but also to quote showrunners Jon, Josh, and Hayden a little bit like when they decided on this three-block structure for the final season, they wanted to make each block feel like its own self-contained story as also a part of the whole. There are certain tonal differences this block that they do make it distinct from blocks one and two.

Robinson: For the fans, just trust Jon, Josh, and Hayden bring it home, because they did such an amazing job landing the plane, and we were incredibly stoked to watch it as fans, let alone score it. Fans will be excited.

When I spoke to Jon, Josh, and Hayden, they said regarding 'The Karate Kid Legends', they're sitting on the sidelines for it. Since the film takes place three years after the events of 'Cobra Kai,' are you guys involved in bridge that tonally for the upcoming film?

Robinson: Nope, we are not involved at all, and we don't know much about the film. Our understanding is that it's not connected to 'Cobra Kai,' but we don't even know.

What's next for you guys?

Birenberg: We've got 'Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man' coming out on Disney Plus coming out on January 29th, and we're super excited about that. You know, Spider-Man, Spider-Man, he's the man of spiders.

Robinson: It's so true.

Birenberg: Yeah, it's so true. We worked really freaking hard on this show and we're super excited for it to come out.

Robinson: We also got 'Twisted Metal' season two [on Peacock], which will be out at some point in 2025.

Season six, part three of Cobra Kai, which also stars Ralph Macchio, William Zakba, Martin Kove, Thomas Ian Griffith, Yuji Okumoto, Xolo Maridueña, Peyton List, Tanner Buchanan, Dallas Dupree Young, and Alicia Hannah-Kim, premieres February 13th on Netflix.

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