Yeah, NGL guys. I'm losing interest in this manga. A huge appeal of this manga is Renji showing him the ropes of Arcade (and in extension Japanese Pop Culture), with a little hint of age gap teasing to spice things up. Him trying to navigate the cultural and age gap was a major thing.
Half of the appeal of this manga is Renji. And the fact that he basically got sidelined (despite being a protagonist) for 30+ chapters just to turn into a generic middle schooler SOL really takes away my fun of reading it.
Hope that the author actually remembers that Renji existed and him being the male protagonist.