[Switchblade]

I don't know. The idea of Gaim unexpectedly ending 15-ish episodes early sounds kind of suspect, but at the same time it's not entirely unthinkable.

The show has been really fast-paced to this point and I know I've been wondering how in the hell so much has happened before the traditional halfway mark; a lot of what's happened would make more sense if we'd actually passed that mark awhile back without realizing it. Urobuchi's a pretty high profile writer, too, Toei may not have been able to lock him down for a full year but didn't want to mess with his story by sticking in random filler (last week notwithstanding).

At the same time, though, some of the stuff in this report is kinda fishy. Superhero Time has never been pre-empted for the World Cup before. Sure, the occasional marathon or golf tournament has bumped one or both shows for a week before, but that's only once or twice a year. I know ratings are down, but I can't see Rider and Sentai going away for an entire month. Plus, while I don't know how Gaim's actual ratings are doing, the toy sales are through the roof. Bandai has a lot of pull as far as Kamen Rider is concerned and I can't imagine they'd want to shut this money train down early.

Assuming we don't get any confirmation on this one way or the other, what I'm going to be looking for is rumors about the next series. Usually those don't start floating around until late May. If we start hearing anything about the next series by the end of this month, then and only then am I going to start writing the eulogy for Gaim.