It would have been more moving if she were dead. Imagine the punch that would have had.
I would have literally died from being so upset. My top 5 favourite stories of all time are all tragedies, so it's not like I don't understand the value... but I could not freaking handle it if this was a tragedy. It was way too fluffy and innocent to have that kind of ending.
The last couple of chapters were like a punch in the gut from how jarring it was. It's not like I didn't see the signs, like a freaking halo over her head, but I thought it was just cutesy manga stuff to set up jokes like the halo lightswitch. I mean... it's Itou Hachi! How could it be anything but fluffy?! It was so freaking hard to read the final chapter because I was crying so much, I would have put the book down and cried myself to sleep if it weren't for the fact that I trusted in Hachi delivering a happily ever after. If she didn't I would not have been able to handle it.