I guess Akagi is a YMMV kind of character. I would've loved to see, in a show like this, the hot blooded idealistic character to get a good dose of reality, instead of having the "hidden depths" (that a good chunk of this character type have) that mean he never has to change or grow as a character because he now does just enough to justify his place in the story. If you think about, hes really no more important than the background characters.
I appreciate the ice episodes for doing one thing; that despite how by-the-book and dedicated to rules the army here might be, they are so incompetently idiotic as to not fully realize the situation, and DO manage to find ways to be helpful and not a headache.
The Ibuki arc is easily the 2nd best arc in the series, but even then it didn't know what it wanted to be about. Was it about defying her stepfather (who does a god job of belittling what she does, which is put her life on the line), getting revenge/her dead fathers approval, and why did she quit? Because she felt there was no point, because she afraid of hurting her teammates? Its like the writers threw out all these reasons and hoping for one of them to stick.
I'd like the think that her father not only wasn't a noble scientist, but just an all-around neglectful person whose moments of interaction are what she desperately clings to, but that's just me filling in the blanks.
EDIT I appreciate the ice episodes for doing one thing; that despite how by-the-book and dedicated to rules the army here might be, they AREN'T so incompetently idiotic as to not fully realize the situation, and DO manage to find ways to be helpful and not a headache.
Yeah, the Ice Episodes were cool (har har) because it's one of the few times in anime that a governmental force finally just went "Screw it, you guys have this, we're going to let you do your thing and try to help". It's ruined by that one general having not been demoted by this point (SEREOUSLY THAT GUY.), but it was great effort, and it led well into the final conflict having Kokuboga as a heroic robot (the fact that it's more awesome doesn't hurt, of course)
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Arc the Fourth: Setup for the finale.
Ok, episodes 20-23 are the ones that start to show the sign that the series is nearly done. The two Heterodynes that show up are actually credible threats, but even they are kept as background concerns as Aoyama and Ibuki finish their character rounding out. (Akagi... kind of never does, but then by this point he's already proven hidden depths under the absurdity and hotbloodedness, so perhaps he didn't need to)
First, we have the ice episodes. Aoyama bouncing off someone who knew him from college is interesting, and though you may not realize it originally, the confict here is that Aoyama HAS matured... and the other person knows it, she is simply ignoring it. America kind of shows up to be an annoyance here after a problem involving a stealth plane and a Heterodyne, but when it becomes clear that there is a GIANT FREEZING HETERODYNE flying around, they are at least willing to allow Japan to fend for itself. The episodes end with the army... in general... showing support for Dai Guard. Unfortunately General Ripper is still out there, and will strike soon.
But first, Ibuki's arc and the fetus looking Heterodyne. DOMAKI of all people plays the person to finish the character changing here, as she pretty much forces Ibuki to face the fact that her father was... not all that great of a man. Everyone is OH SO HORRIFIED HOW COULD SHE DO THIS (There may be a cultural gap here, so if anyone Japanese takes offense to this, I apologize) when she's pretty much just telling Ibuki the facts of the situation... facts that Ibuki KNEW and was ignoring. This leads to problems in combat that are resolved when she realizes her step-father (who was set up as a minor character waaaaaaaay back in the first arc) actually IS a good person, meaning that people are still good (how she didn't associate... well, any one of her coworkers... is beyond me.) And when the group is back together, the Heterodyne is beaten easily after having failed before.
I remind all of you that if you want mecha action, you should have gone elsewhere. I also note that if you have gotten here, keep watching, there will be some good, old fashioned beatdown coming soon.