I think people are misunderstanding the ending. Since Nagato found out that shipgirls are turned into civilians/humans after sinking then this means the real Mutsu whom she fell in love with is the human Mutsu. Not the new Mutsu who she was training. So, in the end, she chose to sink to then be with the human Mutsu. Human Mutsu seems to have gathered fragments of her previous life, which is why in the end she jumps in to save Nagato and finally reunite with her after a few months of not seeing her.
They dont die, no one dies. Nagato and Mutsu are finally together again and new Mutsu will probably end up with a new Nagato they build.
So no, not a sad ending when you think about it. lol
"Not a sad ending" you say, as it was explained in the story that there is a way to "dismantle" shipgirls into regular girls, but they lose all their memories in the process.
As the old Mutsu gets kidnapped and shot as a "demonstration".
As Nagato gets herself killed on the frontline so she can meet her love again in death.
Totally not sad. I cannot interpret Nagato's goal as anything but suicide in this case.
I'm digging up old KanColle works just to feel the feels at this point... Why does Kancolle bring so much nostalgia?
I really like how many KanColle doujins try to explore the uncanny reality of shipgirls getting sunk, dismantled, and rebuilt. It's much more of an existential crisis than what the game intended things to be... Huh...
And now I'm remembering that one Akaga work nakatani Nio left unfinished...
