[Locke]

I was listening to the HJU podcast with Mark Musashi and what he says kinda blew my mind because it's made sense of something I never realised didn't make sense in the first place.

The main reason a lot of toku shows fall apart at the end (I'm gonna write DEBATABLE now in huge letters so I don't have to keep confirming it was subjective) is by the end there aren't really any toys left to push but there is a brand new show with a whole brand new set of toys just waiting round the corner.

So for the finale all of - or at least most of the main suit actors - are pulled out of the current production so they can start working on the opening episodes of the next production where the toys are at and other suit actors, and other such crew are brought in to fill in towards the end.

I bring all this up, both because it's interesting, but from what I gather the Gaim show isn't just successful toy wise, it's a BEHEMOTH. If that is the case, this may very well mean that they go away and reshoot stuff - this is also from Musashi who explains that unlike western shows, Japanese shows are much more malleable and reactionary - so they can literally push toys right to the very end as it's seemingly like Gaim may not run its course toywise in quite the way other shows have by the last ten or so episodes.

I say all THAT because that to me, if this rumour isn't pure nonsense anyway, is probably the most surefire reason I see this lasting fifty episodes or maybe even longer.