
Exactly! Honestly, just give something a try, if it isn't your cup of tea then drop it. I do it a lot, I'll give something 5–10 chapters, but if the story is so bad it's been kicked to the curb because my sanity was breaking trying to see if it gets better. Translations an issue? Then I just hunt for the raws or wait for a better translation team to pick it up. ╮( ̄▽ ̄)╭
Just enjoy the story's plot as it unfolds while playing the "where is this going" game most of the time trying to guess the plot and seeing if you're right, wrong, or just slightly off the mark. I've seen some decent harems come out pretty nice, granted some you have to get past the love scenes, but some creators were ebil and hid story in them, and I've died at the hidden plot many would overlook.
All those "no romance" is killing me. Clearly there will be, but pretty sure it'll be focused on the story mostly and if a spoiler was any indication the "romance" is at the end, so either keep yer panties from bunching up or just drop it.
(〜 ̄△ ̄)〜 I'm here for the story, I don't care if there is or isn't any romance, it's just a little spice to the life in a story.