Yeah she was such an underpromoted character since she released.
? ....Well it's true, there's no character in KOF that I can fathom MR getting, only ones I can see is Silvie and Ninon, but Silvie isn't from that team's time period and Ninon won't be featured because MI2 wasn't a well regarded KOF game series, if she gets someone they'll have to cut some serious corners to make it suitable for her. I never said anything about underpromotion.
Regarding Marie and Honoka's popularity, it's not at all because of TN, Japan likes those types of characters so TN gives them DLC monthly to capitalize on their popularity. Kasumi and Ayane are part of this niche too, which is why they also get DLC almost guaranteed every month, and they've been in since the start. The guys just don't sell well, TN makes outfits for people to buy them but because hardly anyone does they don't really bother to. Valentines Day DLC was basically the last chance for people to prove that the guys deserved some attention too, but once again it's a last ditch effort since hardly anyone buys DLC for them outside of Halloween, Collaboration, and certain DLC sets. It's ultimately all about popularity and sales.