It was really great seeing these characters grow up over time.
I can’t really judge much on the rejected characters, but I do agree with the editor that Mami wasn’t really someone I’d want to see more of. She is rather pitiable, though, because of that. But yeah, there truly were a lot of side characters, and I can’t tell if the story was better for ignoring them and focusing down on the characters it did. I can honestly say that I did really enjoy what we got, though, so I guess the editor did do a good job of helping to direct the story.