Thirded. I'm going to reread the original manga as well. I've only read it a couple times, but I should've noticed the balcony thing that Blü mentioned in her last post. Usually I'm more observant than that. ^_^"
Regarding Berri, I finished reading the last of the sequel yesterday before work. I'm actually a little indifferent towards her situation as a 'canon sue', because as Mikamei already mentioned, it was a bit of a set-up caused by the same people that didn't want Ichigo-focus. She has her flaws, but I'm not yet enamored with the character. I would've liked to see more on Tasuku, though. He was shown to be obviously under the influence of others, but he only got a few panels on that point. It was a bit underwhelming for me.
Back on Berri, though, she does have more flaws than she does perks when you look at her. The problem with A La Mode, though, is that it has identical issues to the original - things weren't fleshed out.