User blog comment:B214/General Discussion/@comment-1359322-20161106045332/@comment-9595671-20161106085246

If we consider Ishibumi thought that far ahead before he began writing, I get the feeling that's exactly the reason he decided not to make Vali a girl.

And considering I've seen some fans mention if Vali had been female she'd have been a shoe-in for the harem, heck I once heard someone say a female Vali should have been the main heroine or something simlar to that.