So, I came back to this game after playing the 0.2b version and I've got to say that there have been a lot of improvements in this short period of time.
The general feel of the UI is better, the kinks and personalities of the girls are better fleshed out (pamper me jean onee-chan pls) and the progression feels more natural and less grindy: the grind is still there but compared to other games TNH is far less time-consuming and advancing the main story is actually beneficial to the conquest of the girls.
The only thing that I found weird (and if I'm not mistaken someone already pointed it out) is that I pursued Jean first and after having enough love and trust I obtained her permission to start a serious relationship with the others; as soon as I DARED to smile at Laura she pulled a Goku on me by instantly teleporting wherever I was at the moment and throwing a tantrum about it.
She calmed down after a couple of days, but it was quite jarring.
Aside from that, I had a blast playing and I have to agree that the game is far more "dating sim" than "trainer", which I'm completely fine with; also the first thing that I thought about the man-rabbit in the background was "what the hell is Frank from Donnie Darko doing in here?".
Overall, just keep at it, this game is already very good and with the new content coming up (hopefully soon) it will become even better.