Yes, I hate how the trajectory of the story has gone. But man, at one point I loved the hell outta this manga because relationships are super fucking hard man. I get why he's shy and nervous and scared to talk to beautiful women. Though honestly, interacting with people that make your nervous is all part of life, y'know?
I have totally gone through that, "Oh shit, I'm single and a total dork. How will I ever get a girlfriend?!" phase. I think everyone goes through a similar phase, but ultimately I think this manga should've went down the, "Learning to have confidence for myself" kind of avenue. Learning to appreciate your own self worth is super difficult without being overly critical of one's self.
I mean, the MC talks to Sumi effortlessly later on and I've always loved seeing those two interact because it reminds me of two very good friends of opposite gender, just trying to explain the whole insanity of the dating enigma.