Tsurebito (also known as Companion) is a 4-volume manga by Akihito Yoshitomi who is more known for completely different things (fluffy lesbian schoolgirl romances). Instead, this starts with the main character professing her love to a boy and then a couple of scenes later has to realize that she died in a horrible accident and now is forced to move on.
Though moving on turns out to be rather hard for her so she joins the people who, like her, can’t or won’t move on to their final resting place and instead helps other recently departed to move on themselves. She has to, as those who don’t find others to help, eventually turn into mindless wraiths.
From there, the story moves along in big steps, as time moves differently in the limbo between the real world and whatever comes next, and our protagonist discovers what happens to her friends and family and the boy she fell in love with. She finds out much to her chagrin that some of those she left behind alive have just as much of a hard time moving on as she has and the way they process their grief leads to some heartache for her.
This was a real departure from everything Yoshitomi had done before or after and arguably might be one of his best works in terms of ambition and ingenuity. Its visuals are rather cool, the action keeps the plot moving while the overall story is a thoughtful mediation on letting go and accepting the cards fate has dealt you and finding joy in the things you still got (or left behind) despite your fate.
It’s one of those rare stories that depict an afterlife that’s even more fascinating than the real world it borders and not just a sentimental tour of the things left behind by those who have departed, though it does have those moments as well. Pretty cool story I wish was more widely known.
The Entropy Pump 