honestly don't mind the ending, the romance with akira always felt like it started from nothing, but it just became a regular part of their lives and so they didn't question it until tetsuo started seeing things clearer
after a while, started seeing it as less of a romance and just interesting dives into these characters and their development
of course it would be nice if there was a more definitive ending, but i don't mind seeing tetsuo finally start looking forward a little bit, although maybe i'm biased, since i can relate to how he feels a bit