I’d gotten my hopes up thinking that they omitted the alien ._.
Same... it has been a while since I've disliked a side character in manga this much.
But overall I like this version better, I don't mind the slow burners but I like seeing some development. Even girlfriends that pretty much started as a subtext/shoujo ai at best wasn't as slow as the first version of this manga. There is a difference between slow burn manga and not going anywhere.
At the original's pace we would have a kiss or someone even proclaiming their feelings by the 200th chapter. I'm not the 'so when do they bone?' kind of person but it was supposed to be a romance.
A good example of a slow burn manga that doesn't feel like it's standing still even though it has a slower pace is 'My Unrequited Love'.