One thing people missed:
Nagi respecting Reiji's need for a closure with his mom before taking him away to the town is actually the opposite of what she actually wanted when she came back to The Town (for Reiji to abandon everybody and just run with her, even using the JAV shit as a threat (chapters 151 to 155)). If something, this chapter is more about Nagi (and Yuuko) than about Reiji. It's her finally having a closure with Mao. That's why she thanked Reiji (and dropped the -kun honorifics in the RAWs. This alone is important). She wanted to let him know what he did wasn't pointless in the end.
The shapeshifting figure at the bridge was actually the reference to Thanatos no Yuuwaku, the inexistent entity that would whisk the depressive individual to his death.
So, Esemori died first. That dream sequence was their farewell. Let's see if Yuuko manages to finish the book.
Dunno how will Reiji's clean break with his mom will be, but it seems the lovers suicide end is almost inminent. Mao's desire for Nagi to live happily may be perceived by Nagi as insensitive as Yuri's desire for Reiji to live and may have triggered the opposite reaction. Unless Nagi aims for a fresh restart with him and grasped the happiness part.
Still i am puzzled about what did Nagi mean about making Reiji dirtier/corrupting Reiji. Is about him having commited a crime that makes him be as tainted as her?? Or was about Reiji being able to go that far for her to the point of dirtying his hands??
Ryou left a riddle on a post on her Xitter.
A truth (lie) told by a novelist: the light my mother let slip away, until the idol I longed for was born...
https://x.com/ryo_minenami/status/1813597459341537413?t=De0iGmx8k_Fke-Hd1xmmCQ&s=19
What did Ryou mean by this?? May this have a Hatsukoi Zombie end instead??
It's gonna be hard to say goodbye to this manga. Even if Ryou Ryou'd the end just like in her previous works.
PD: this chapter had the
near vanishing eyes draft btw. So the ☔️ draft belongs to the final chapter.