The problem with neeko is and i know i get downvoted for this cuz muh %%%% waifu is that she is just bad design.
Like her kit has nothing and is nothing. It is absolutely generic and in many ways brings it worse to the table than other mages. Her gimmick is just that a gimmick and doesn't do anything. It's basically a get out of jail free card in lane but that's it most of the time.
So riot buffs the fuck out of her numbers to make her relevant instead of admitting that neeko should be actually just removed and replaced with a real champion.
Neeko feels like riot needed money, slapped a mage kit together and called it a day. Make it some cutesy pervert fantasy character wise and boom $$$$