@Abbysmauh I get where you're coming from with this perspective but thats not the subject at hand if you look at the original statement from Kadufrrj. The person was hoping for romance between the two protagonists to which N0mi0 stated that yes there is, which is true by jpn standards.
I am not sure what you define as "engage in actual romance" but if you take into account on how eastern mentality/culture plays a role into their approach to romance (caution that is), what we are seeing is basically pre-dating to dating by their standards. And yes, "99%" is platonic stuff but still catagorized as romance.
The original statement was: "
I really want a romance between them. Unlikely? Yes. Impossible? Not."
If my earlier premise stands, then romance has been on the rise between them since the bloody-nose / tissue incident, thereby refuting the assessment (9 months ago it was much more unclear). If the question on the other hands was asking whether or not they'll become an official couple, then the statement could be true but time will tell with the author. In fact the OP statement itself shares the same sentiment Ichikawa suffers from since Yamada started to communicate with him.
One could argue that the relationship that we often see (the journey) is in fact the most interesting part as you see their trials and tribulations as to why their relationship makes sense (occasionally). Therefore it sorta makes sense culturally for jpn romcom of all types to primarily display the "discovery" part of the journey. In fact if you look at the old western teenage romantic movies (10 things I hate about you, She's all that etc.) they all follow the same pattern.