The cast of The Summer You Were There have their share of awesome moments.
- Kaori nonchalantly picking up Shizuku's manuscript, figuring out that she's planning on killing herself and convincing her to start another project under the belief that she won't kill herself until she's finished establishes that Kaori's rather smart and good at reading people.
- Seri slapping Shizuku and telling her that her cruel treatment of Ruri is bullying. After the rest of the school did little more than ineffectually protest Shizuku's actions, if not outright enable them, it's nice that someone finally stood up to her.
- Shizuku deserves credit for going through with personally delivering her apology to Ruri, despite being so overwhelmed with anxiety that she's physically ill(so much that Kaori suggests calling it off), not to mention seeing Seri, who despises Shizuku, show up to the meeting. At the time, it seemed like it did nothing but make things worse, but Ruri began to realize, even back then, that Shizuku had changed.
- After Kaori tries to break up with Shizuku after being hospitalized, Shizuku refuses to accept Kaori's excuses and insists on continuing to see her even if Kaori thinks she's a burden on Shizuku or will cause Shizuku pain when she dies, since she enjoys being with Kaori and wants to support her. Considering that for most of the first half of the series, Shizuku had been passively going along with Kaori's plans, this is a significant step forward for her.
- Kaori manages to do a lot for Shizuku with simple and seemingly innocuous requests. Her request for Shizuku to write another book forces her to postpone her plans to commit suicide. By asking Shizuku to climb a mountain and suggesting that she take her sister, she gets Kaori to reconnect with her family. By having Shizuku visit the Asaka residence to retrieve a book, Kaori ensures that neither she nor Shiori are alone. By asking Shizuku and Ruri to get drinks, she gets them to take the first steps toward reconciliation.
- Ruri's decision regarding Shizuku. Rather than go along with what Kaori says or simply easily forgive Shizuku, she decides to go with what she wants- to get to know Shizuku better in hopes of overcoming her trauma. Shizuku realizes she isn't the only one that changed.
- Shizuku manages to finish her novel in less than a month, despite struggling with Writer's Block and other distractions, and shows it to Kaori before she passes away, fulfilling her promise.
- In the final chapter, Seri barges into Shizuku's room, demands to know why she didn't come to Kaori's funeral, carries her downstairs and tells her that they're going to Kaori's house. This enables Shizuku to read Kaori's diary and letter to her, and come out of her grief-fueled depression.
