[barnstenchfartface]

So while I'm watching episode 8 of Stronger, I start thinking: man, this show would be so much better if Tackle was a teenage sidekick. Her weakness, general inefficiency, tendency to get captured, and the complete disrespect she gets from Shigeru would all be much more palatable if she was just a teenage sidekick of some sort. It's unbecoming for a grown woman and superhero partner, but teenage sidekicks are chumps. I mean, it wouldn't make it perfect, but it'd make more sense. But no.

Then I realized, I didn't actually know if Tackle was an adult. I knew Shigeru's actor was in his twenties, but I had only been assuming Yuriko's was too. So I checked and wouldn't you know it, while Araki Shigeru was 26 when he played Stronger, Okada Kyouko was only 16 when she started playing Tackle. While the Rider's ages don't always match up exactly to their actor's, they are usually very close. So there we go. A teenage sidekick is she. Shigeru is ten years her senior, so I guess him being kind of a smartass makes sense.

Of course, this actually makes his occasional criminal negligence and physical abuse seem even worse, but eh. I'd already confirmed the dude is a huge jerkass. It's a unique personality for a main Rider though, so it's cool. In any case, this makes my perception of Stronger somewhat more positive. Pretty alright thus far.

On the other hand, looking this stuff up led me to find out that both actors have passed away by now, which is pretty sad. Especially in the case of Okada, who died tragically young just a little over a decade after Stronger ended. :(