Then that in itself is an inherent fault of the series, isn't it? Though I'd have to disagree; pretty much everyone in the series is playing his or her role perfectly, save for Ran. She's a bit of an oddball who's been dumbed down for the sake of extending the plot. In a long running story like DC's, you can't expect every single character to directly or even indirectly affect the plot. Is it not enough that Takagi knows Date who knows Amuro? His manga character was derived from an AO character anyway, so I'd say this is pretty decent plot involvement for a guy like him.