Japan’s 9-yr-old karate champion returns—in Australian singer Sia’s new music video

Let’s say you’re producing a music video. A tried-and-true method is to simply splice together some clips of the artist’s last concert tour. Or, if the song hasn’t been performed live yet, you could do a “behind-the-scenes” sort of thing with footage of the singer in the studio.

But here’s what happens when you take a third option: Making a music video starring Japan’s most amazing nine-year-old karate expert.

A while back we took a look at Mahiro Takano, by far the most intimidating seven-year-old we’d ever seen, as she unleashed a flurry of lightning-fast punches and kicks. Young Miss Takano has been busy since then, celebrating standard childhood milestones, like her ninth birthday, as well as some less common ones, such as winning her age group’s kata division for the third consecutive year at the All Japan Junior Karatedo Championships.

Since there’s usually not a lot of overlap between the demographics of “cute nine-year-old kid” and “fierce barehanded warrior,” YouTube videos of Takano performing her karate strikes have become a worldwide hit, and they recently caught the attention of vocalist Sia. The singer has just released the video for her new song “Alive” in which, true to form, the 39-year-old Australian makes no appearance, so that instead all of the screen time can be given to Takano.

Filmed in Chiba Prefecture, the video is set in an abandoned, dilapidated building, with Takano seemingly getting ready to brew a pot of tea. But as tasty as Japan’s most popular non-alcoholic beverage is, Takano isn’t a tea master, she’s a karate practitioner, so as the tempo picks up, she stands up and does what she does best.

The two-tone wig is a little distracting, but it looks to have been chosen because it watches the hairstyle of the model on the cover for the “Alive” single. In any case, you’ll probably want to keep your eyes on Takano’s attacks instead of her hair, lest she smash a fist right in the center of your face.

Martial arts fans might be somewhat disappointed that the video’s audio consists entirely of Sia’s vocals and the accompanying music of “Alive.” That means that even though Takano can be seen shouting her heart out, you won’t hear any of her actual "kiai" yells from when her karate routine was recorded.

But then again, considering how she already had us shaking in our boots at seven, we’re not sure we could handle the power of fury of her nine-year-old voice.

Source: Sankei News

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