>>280340437
Thst's not the ending Reiji is intending tho.
He'll get his girlfriend. Even if it's not Chizuru, he won't become sigma chud who goes against the current.

>>280056334
I'm not trolling.
She's not gonna give up her dream. And even would end using other colleagues as a trampolin. Have you ever heard about compensated dates? Umi would do that shit and Chizuru would not mind it.
Kazuya in this situation has 2 options: take her out of that world by force, risking getting her infinite contempt from her, or go the AKB route, grow up more flexible and broadminded, but jaded about pursuing chimeras, just give up, support her and even if he has the chance to get near her thanks by him getting connections to land a job as a producer, he'll be too tired and resigned to ever try it again and he'll just settle down with his own reality (inheriting the sake/konbini, settle with a stubborn Ruka/flow with Mini or an emergency arrangement with Mami).

>>279798148
If Kazuya ends with another girl not named Chizuru, it's already a redpill about not trying hard, and if Ruka is the endgame, it already becomes a downer.

The thing that still resonates with me is what that japanon said about some mangaka resonating with the national mood, and said mood currently beijg nihilistic and bleak. MHA and SnK had a bleak and mean-spirited end in hindsight because of such nihilistic collective mind.
In romance, that way to show nihilism is by making MC either end single, bitter and as a hollow husk/end with a girl different from what he wanted and having to learn to get content with that or make MC win the FeMC, but in the process he loses everything he had before except maybe one friend.
Reiji already showed since AKB he shares the same nihilistic mindset. (Kanokari is in hindsight nihilistic. Kazuya is a natural nihilist, easy to fall into depression, has suicidal thoughts sometimes, and take always the worst decisions, starting with having rented Chizuru to run away from facing Mami, and he knows he has someone he can fall back and settle down with if he realizes nothing else can be done, even if for him, that means a defeat).
80s series can afford with being more upbeat because Japan was on a fucking frenzy.

>>279717754
Focus on best girl like how he made proto-Ruka win

>>279589883
AKB49 had thebart handled by Reiji Miyajima however he had a heavy hand in the final chapters, and the titular girl didn't win there, what's worse, tye MC had kind of a downer end compared to other characters, but ended up with his fan who seemingly knew hisn rue gender and chose to play the long game.

Kanokari end may have high chamces to repeat the AKB49 end.
The girl AKB MC got saddled with is literally Protoruka.