Look, this ending is pretty much of a piece with the whole rest of the story--poorly paced, too much time on peripheral things, unanswered throwaway questions (like, how did Uta learn "what it feels like to have someone like you"? Was it a boy? A girl? A lizard?), and things that might be meaningful but might just be sloppy mistakes (for example, if Reiichi lives in the same building, why does his door not have a lock like Uta's does? If he doesn't, why was he picking up mail as if he were coming home from work?)
The ending is a problem, but I'd say it's just another symptom of THE problem.
The door Reiichi is going through isn't the same type of door as the one Uta is standing at. It doesn't have an intercom/doorbell system next to it and it doesn't look like it has a lock on the handle. In other words, it looks like it is a door to an interior hallway or a FIRE DOOR as they are called. (Fireproof doors that exist to slow the spread of fires in the event one breaks out.) That would indicate that his apartment is in a different hallway or even a different wing of the apartment complex, though on the same floor. Uta and Kaoru live in a room closer to the elevator.
All in all, I don't hate the ending. It feels hella rushed and intentionally vague, but the theme of the story IS unrequited love, so it is hard to say that a HEA ending where Kaoru came to realize just how gay she is would have been at all fitting for the series either. The one thing I did like about the chapter was the way Kaoru's friends looked at her with that "pitying kindness", clearly thinking that she was keeping a stiff upper lip and thinking that "somewhere out there I'll find my prince who will love me for who I am" when she said, "But out there's still someone... someone who loves me for who I am." I got a good chuckle out of that one AND it gives a hint as to whether the ending should be interpreted as them living together platonically (and queerplatonic relationships are still relationships!) or romantically. That wistful look on her face suggests that, once she gets her own crap together, she might be ready to reconsider her feelings and whether her love for Uta is something that goes beyond familial love. (Which could very well explain why Uta hadn't seen her for a year.) It's just a shame that there weren't three or four more chapters to see whether it happened or not...
last edited at Oct 19, 2020 6:47PM