Flowers for A Lady
It is argued that the ending of the show didn't resolve all loose ends and didn’t really fix up the issues each of the characters are facing. I agree with this sentiment, but I see it as both as a real presentation of reality rather than a plot fault because, in truth, who would have really managed to fix all their problems at that point. Menma’s death was the beginning of the problems they were forced to face, and meeting her again was really just the first step to personal healing they all would need to go through to finally be able to move on completely. Menma’s appearance managed to put into real perspective each of the issues each character had to face, but she was not the one to cure them. For everything she’s done, her presence merely put them on the road to recovery; she cannot make them travel the road. She made them see the problems they’ve been having since childhood, but she cannot make them face them. At the time it was time for her to leave the second and final time, she had shown them the roads they can travel, but she cannot make them move. They would have to do so themselves.
That is why Jinta’s still struggling to go to school with Anaru. That is why Yukiatsu and Tsuruko still find a bit of awkwardness between them. That is why Poppo is struggling with books he would have studied if he went to school Each one has a road they have to catch up on after time almost stopped for them that time. Menma put their time back into motion, and each one still has a long road ahead of them.