Kinda bullshit to suddenly throw a robot without human autonomic reactions into a fight as a "surprise combatant". Professional fighters get pissed off enough when their human opponent changes with only a few weeks notice.
"Aizuchi" is basically "conversational filler" that you use to indicate that you're paying attention to the speaker. It's much more important in Japanese and some other Asian languages than in western languages.
Earning money in a profession where you get to meet a lot of people and makes them happy, and get lots of exercise in the bargain? Sounds pretty healthy to me - especially when you get to [spoilers]. Of course there's always the risk of [spoilers] - but there are risks in a lot of client-facing...
Is "whitewashing" a thing in Japan? Is it something they have any awareness of?
Edit: Apparently there was a backlash against the whitewashing from readers of the manga so the mangaka reversed course and decided to not change the heroine's skin color. That chapter's up on mangadex. I don't know...