Shiina Karuho hasn't made an announcement that Kimi ni Todoke is nearing its end from my Google searches, but what happened in

Chapter 71 gave me this thought; it just became apparent to me.

Did you think the same? Are there any loose ends that need to be tied up first? Do you not want the goodness to end? What do you think?

"to the world you may be one person,
but to one person you may be the world."
-unknown

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so" (from Hamlet, Wm. Shakespeare; Act II, scene ii)

(Even though the quote above is from Hamlet, I first saw it in a Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer on YouTube ^o^)

I am not sure if I agree with you... I think that the last volume is always announced with a lot of pam-pam by the publishers before it's release, especially for a popular series like this. However, nobody hears anything like this happening with Volume 18.
Also, there is the question of what will everyone do after they leave school and a couple more things to finish up, for example, the side couples.
But I do agree that you somewhat get that feeling from reading Chapter 71 when Shouta talks about him

holding back from reaching for Sawako all along. And of course, there's also the ! kiss which was postponed so long that now that it finally happened, it gives a feeling of closure, so you may still be right...
Maybe Volume 18 will be the last, who knows? I guess we'll find out, eventually.

That's true; this is a high school manga, after all.
Who knows indeed! (^o^)

I just wanted to see what everyone thought at this point.

"to the world you may be one person,
but to one person you may be the world."
-unknown

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so" (from Hamlet, Wm. Shakespeare; Act II, scene ii)

(Even though the quote above is from Hamlet, I first saw it in a Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer on YouTube ^o^)

I think they should break up.

No, not to be sadistic or to introduce forced plot-twists. I simply think it'll be a much more mature story if they one-day realize they've grown in separate ways, that being together isn't quite all it's clamoured to be, and sometimes it's better to let go. And add in a few final chapters on their developed lives, and how they look back on that innocent first love that wasn't meant to be.

And yes, I love Sunadokei. And Walking Away by C. Day-Lewis.

taking into account how slow things can develope in KNT I think the ending might take some time, there are still many things the mangaka can invent for the story, things that can be extended.

朝露の少女。

“The longer we live, the more weight we carry in our hearts.”