Is "The Toru Hashimoto Show," the long-running Osaka political drama — which some might call a farce and others a tragedy — entering its final season?

That's the question Osakans of all political stripes are asking with the mercurial mayor set to leave office at the end of this month, only to stand for re-election March 23 for reasons not even Hashimoto's most ardent supporters can fully explain.

Officially, his resignation was prompted by anger at the lack of progress a committee of local politicians made in discussing his and his Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) political group's goal of integrating the city of Osaka with Osaka Prefecture by April next year.