This right here!!
I've always hated how one fantastic story ends up completely side tracked with a romantic interest.
I also don't really like when authors end stories with babies all the time, it just feels like that's always the end goal.
But I still like a helpful fml don't get me wrong ＼(^^)／
I hear that. A great, strong and supportive FL is nice when she isn't there just because there's a man. A woman should not be a simple plot point. If she wasn't there in the beginning or there as a character with depth and purpose (and I don't mean she's there to create drama or conflict only). Then I just don't want it at all. Too many stories have some flat, dull woman in her "townsperson B" role for the male to fall in love with for no reason at all...or contrary an overly dramatized diva type character who drives the plot into anxiety mode. This story is so entertaining as is, no need for the filler romance.
i'm scared they'll pull the bs most of the authors pull where the love interest isn't written like an actual human being and more like a life buff or foil. i've seen too many good stories crash and burn because author's in shounen & seinen act like women are a different species or caricature them to hell. would definitely prefer, like you said, if they have to have romance; don't make it a huge derailing plot point. "Chaebol's Youngest Son", "The Story of a Low-Rank Soldier Becoming a Monarch", & "I Reincarnated As A Legendary Surgeon" style of 'there's a romantic partner but they don't focus on it' route would be super preferable.
I really do not want romance. It always mucks up a great plot. He's doing awesome things and then -hits the breaks- its suddenly about the struggles with a relationship, some woman that takes him from the original plot and spirals it into a different story. If I want to read a romance I will go find one. Please do not mix it into this story line *sobs* ⁄(⁄ ⁄·⁄ω⁄·⁄ ⁄)⁄