It didn't end in "Who needs friends anyway?", so it's a big victory. That being said, this whole theme of finding it difficult to make friends is interesting psychologically or sociologically. It's not only a few manga where you encounter a scenario of someone missing the first week of school somehow renders them isolated for good. Without knowing Japan that much, I wonder if it's really like that over there or if it's just purely a manga/novel thing the audience just likes. Bullied kids naturally could be alone, but otherwise you'd think it's something that happens to a person mentally incapable (somewhat deep autism) or totally uninterested by choice (never saw such a person in RL, myself). Because, in the end, making friends isn't rocket science.