Great chapter to break the tension from the final arc, ending the series on a more light-hearted note. Seriously, Issa's death stare almost had me cry-laughing.
And I guess I also finally got my explanation for what happened with him behind the scenes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I also liked how Ikeda basically pulled a fast one on the readers with the cover. The volume cover had me thinking that Outer Moka would somehow just pop back in for the ending, only for the author to make some color changes in the chapter iteration and jebait everyone. Made me smile.
And I don't think she was trying to copy her mother, to be honest. Rather, she simply loosened up.
In fact, she seemed to be gradually softening up over the course of the series. The more time in the light she got, basically.
Like, remember the chapter where she tried to make that pumpkin pie? The flashback arc too very heavily hinted at her not being innately that cold.
And during most of the final arc, especially after her reunion with Tsukune, she already begun behaving A LOT more like Outer Moka.
Her cold facade was simply a way to protect herself from getting hurt. And after most, if not all of her trust issues were resolved there was simply no longer a reason to remain distant.
I even broached the topic back in chapter 55 myself.
Also, I think the catch with "Outer Moka" is that she was never a truly separate soul to begin with.
She was more like a blank slate that simply used Akasha's dominant personality traits as a template and acted as a buffer to prevent (Inner) Moka from coming in contact with her own tragic past, I guess? Oh and probably to prevent her from accidentally triggering Alucard's awakening with her own awakening as a Shinso. That's kind of a major plot point too, I suppose.
So it was essentially still Moka herself (funnily enough, I also sorta brushed this topic in chapter 59). Also meaning that Akasha simply received her daughter's memories, due to her own connection with the rosary, as opposed to Akasha "possessing" her own daughter.
To quote the relevant conversation from chapter 66, pages 180 and 181:
Moka: Th-the outer one is Mother?
Akasha: Not exactly the same person, but a replica. Even through we were clones, she was the "outer" Moka the moment we separated. But the memories of the time you spent with her are coming back to me with this rosary.
And what's happening now is that the traits Moka developed under the header of "Outer Moka", but were fragmented due to the rosary's destruction, simply begun to merge back into her.
So it's not really a rewrite but more like a restoration.
But yeah, it's a bit confusing indeed.