DEFINITELY a case of Your Mileage May Vary regarding Akise's treatment. I actually found that he was given the most heroic death out of all the characters, risking everything to help Yukki. I found it respectable, despite being fairly gruesome. Also, if the manga author is so homophobic, why would she have painted Akise as such a good, smart, character in the first place? Wouldn't it have made more sense for a homophobic mangaka to make a gay character look bad/overly weak/etc. rather than treating him as being more sympathetic than most of the other characters? Even his death seemed brave/sympathetic, as he held on despite having his head chopped off. That just cemented him as a Badass for me and many other readers. Why in the world would a homophobe paint a character in such a way? Furthermore, you seem to be ignoring the fact that Akise was NOT the only homosexual (or rather Yukkisexual, as he would probably see himself) character in the manga. There was also Mao, who quite clearly had strong feelings for Hinata. She died in a way that was fairly unremarkable if I remember correctly, just like pretty much every other minor character.
As for whether or not he died "gruesomely" (though I've already addressed that) for being the rival that got in the way of the main pairing, that does seem more plausible. Still, considering this was Yuno, what would you expect? She really wanted to make sure he was dead and what better way for the author to show Yuno's hatred of Akise than a decapitation? Just something to consider.
Of course, you have a right to your opinions. Basically, what I mean is that suggesting that anyone is a homophobe is a serious accusation, and one that is pretty much unfounded considering how sympathetically Akise is treated overall. Just read his character page, for goodness's sake. He just oozes Badass! As for whether or not any of the characters are treated cruelly for trying to get in the way of Yuno X Yukki, that's always up for debate.
I also disagree on one of the last notes that not liking yandere girls means that this series is not "for you." I started reading the series without having ever heard of it before, and got into it for the plot line/fast pace/everything else you praised. So, no, not liking yandere characters is not enough reason to ignore this manga/anime.
Overall though, a decent review.
It's true that Akise is portrayed as one of the nicer characters in the series, but I feel like Akise wasn't treated right in terms of the world more than his actual character.
Mur-Mur treats Akise horribly and Akise just takes her insults in Paradox. I found that very disturbing given that in real life, most homosexual characters tend to keep up with the insults and continue on like it doesn't matter. The fact that Mur-Mur goes all out just to make Akise miserable in Paradox makes me thing that author did that on purpose. Also, despite Akise being one of the nicer characters, his good deeds come back to bite him in the end. It's like saying, "It doesn't matter how nice of a person you are, your efforts will fail." And given that Yuno is the exact opposite of him and all of her antiques of getting her way work by being violent gives off a bad impression.
I got into the show because I was looking for animes with crazy yandere girls and comparing and seeing how each series handles them. Some are more realistic than others and I finished the whole series despite Yuno being a huge turn for me in terms of character because her type of yandere is killing anyone that gets in the way of Yuki whether it's his family or friends and given that her whole character is being a psychotic b*tch (excuse my language), it's the main attraction for the series.
As much as I hate yandere characters, some of them do better than others. Yuno for me is the best yandere (but a terrible person as a result) and I wanted to see how Yuki would handle her...and I'm very disappointed in how he handled her.
Say it in red! "People die when they are killed."
I can understand why Yuno bothered you. I didn't like her either and I also didn't like how Yukki dealt with her - in fact, I kept finding myself SCREAMING, "Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!" every time she did something destructive. I understood why he kept her around at first - he was terribly weak and she gave him some protection (especially with their Perfect Diary combination,) but then it just got annoying as he kept letting her get away with things. But still, Yuno was never the main draw of this for me. If it was for you, then I'm sorry you were disappointed by the pathetic way Yukki handled her. He was always a weak person (even when he took a few levels late in the story) and could never really do much about her as a result.
And I still think it's silly that you'd call the mangaka a homophobe just because of Mur-Mur's insults. Mur-Mur is basically an oober-powerful being who's known for insulting EVERYONE (including Yukki, who just whines in response) for kicks and Akise probably just took her insults because he knew that trying to snipe back at her would be useless. A waste of time, really. In fact, his choosing to just take the insults and move on was just a part of his fairly laid-back, Nice Guy, character. I don't think it really had anything to do with his Yukkisexuality. You can interpret it that way if you want, but it doesn't seem particularly logical.
As for Mur-Mur's non-verbal treatment of Akise, I just thought that that whole chapter was meant to make us see how AWESOME Akise could be, compared to Yukki, if it weren't for Mur-Mur's interference. Really, he was practically god-moding the whole game on his own with little effort and without making himself look like anything less than a hero. It was a sad ending, but I don't think it was meant to deride him for being Yukkisexual, considering how good he was at doing things overall. As for Yuno, well, you neglect to take into account the fact that she is not alone and her violent methods do not always save her, as when she has to be saved by Yukki's efforts. She works together with Yukki a lot of the time - something Akise didn't get to do in Paradox. Indeed, the fact that Akise was able to get so far without Yukki's help, only to be stopped by no less than Divine Intervention was a major show of his awesomeness! Yuno would have been killed countless times (as by Rei-kun) were she and Yukki not clinging onto each other.
I know it might seem like I'm emphasizing this point a little too strongly, but I get very irritated when someone writes off a storyteller as being homophobic (or heterophobic) just because bad things happen to a gay (or straight) character. Your accusations do not hold water in that regard. Really, bad things happen to EVERY character in Mirai Nikki and yet, despite it all, Akise remains the most arguably sympathetic and badass character in the series. I've already noted Mao's relatively sympathetic treatment and the fact that there are many other reasons for Akise's (supposedly) gruesome death (i.e. nothing says Determinator like continuing on with your head chopped off.) He's a great example of Badass Gay capable of punching destiny in the face and should be celebrated as such, not denounced as an example of homophobic writing.
But, I suppose, Your Mileage May Vary. I see a character's actions and portrayal as being more indicative of Xphobia in regard to sexuality after all. Rotten things happen to everyone and, in fiction, it just makes them more sympathetic. Very few writers make bad things happen to a character as a Take That at some group. And why? Because they know it would backfire. Thus, Akise's status as Ensemble Darkhorse.
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Good Series but is there Unfortunate Implications?
There might be spoilers here so if you don't want to be spoiled, don't read the second to last paragraph.
There are so many people that came to this series for the yandere girl Yuno Gasai. There are many reasons to like her though. She's a Dark Action Girl, Ms Fanservice (despite being 14) and a huge fetish for many people is her yandere personality. While I admit that she is the Queen of Yandere, I feel like I should point out the other characters.
While each character is indeed fleshed out, they're all killed by Yuno because they all dare to get in the way of her relationship with the main guy Yuki. However, what disturbed me was how the author treated Yuki's other love interest Aru Akise who is a guy.
Now since this is just an opinion, I felt like the author favored Yuno over Akise not because she was the main girl that would get Yuki but because of Unfortunate Implications. To sum it up, Akise while a nice guy most of the time is constantly trying to warn Yuki of the dangers with getting in a relationship with Yuno. Yuki doesn't listen due to Stockholm Syndrome but the fact that all that Akise does is for nothing from the end of the series, the fact that he ends up another victim is what bugs me. Out of all the deaths, why is his the most gruesome? Is it because he's the rival that gets in the way of the main pairing? Or is it because the author is homophobic and wanted his death to be the worse? Whatever the case, I did not like how the author handled this character and while Akise might be the lead in Paradox, what happens to him in the series is a stab in the back if Paradox was read before the main series.
Other than that though, the series is REALLY good. The pacing is fast, the battles don't get boring and there are points in the series that will make you laugh (rarely) and cry (often). If you don't like yandere girls though, then this is not the series for you. Otherwise, if you have a fetish for these types of girls, I would recommend picking it up and reading it. The anime comes out this fall.