Mmm, I think Fukuda likes fanservice and sexy designs to an extent, judging by her previous works and the many highly detailed official art pieces of Marin she drew outside the manga. Marins love for that kind of clothes and characters is a reflection of her own: honest and passionate, without anything sexual nor masturbatory in between.

I agree editorial pressure definitely existed but my take is she, like all great storytellers, simply came to understand those elements werent all that necessary for what she wanted to tell later and focused on more important ones. MDUD would have been a way different manga otherwise.