Responses
Like anyone could tell that Nakamura and Hirose are more than friends, but the manga (and by extention the anime) isn't about that. It doesn't matter whether they get together yet, because they don't know each other enough yet. The story is about Nakamura reaching out of his shell and trying to take the steps to do something about his love.
Nakamura deserved an adaptation similar to old Rumiko Takahashi mangas, that respected the material and contributed substantially to it. The current anime just made it sappier. Nakamura as a manga worked so well because it was mostly absurd comedy, so when things got real, they felt like they had weight. The new anime gets rid of important things like the very real homophobia in that world, and literally makes everything that's true to growing up queer subtext. Lwk I don't think most new fans even care about the works that Nakamura is inspired by and is trying to reference and pay homage to, especially with its 80s endings. They just want heartstopper slop where all of that nuance is essentially displaced with the characters getting together. ┑(￣Д ￣)┍