i will try to be brief. most of my more like rambling critiques about akihiko's linked episode can be found here but now that i have that here's how i would ideally restructure it

first, to start off, akihiko's character arc hinges on his initial iteration being an immature, narrow-minded, idealist who's obsessed with gaining strength and protecting others. this is a mentality he espoused as a way for atoning for the weakness he saw within himself after the death of his sister, as he blames himself for being unable to save her (despite being literally like 8 at the time). akihiko was very much so struck by the feeling of powerlessness watching the orphanage burn and the painful grief of losing his only living family member, and thus conceived for himself an "ideal" of atonement: a life of service protecting others and trying to live as a role model (especially for and to those younger than him, as we don't see him be as protective of the other two seniors).

akihiko's idealist nature is partly why he's so frustrated by shinjiro's abandonment of SEES - he thinks the way that shinjiro can atone for what happened with ken's mother is to similarly use his power to protect others and ensure that never happens again. while i'm sure he'd also just like to have his friend back, he wants shinjiro back in SEES as a way for him to make up for the past rather than letting it chain him down in isolation. it's how akihiko sees "moving on". akihiko's idealism is also why he lashes out when he's told that the risky plan to rescue fuuka might be too dangerous - the idea of not being able to save others, of not even being allowed to try, reminds him of the powerlessness he felt about his sister's death. as a result, he lashes out.

akihiko believes that the only way he can rightfully live is to dedicate himself to getting stronger and being a role model that others can depend on and gain inspiration from - that it's the only just way to atone and make up for his sister's death. he refuses to weigh down others (literally one of his original battle lines is "i don't want to be a burden") and instead is so overly ambitious and disciplined so he can be the one to help others instead. in P3 official design works, it's stated that akihiko's been carefully constructing "an admirable front" for others, that he's "obsessed with how others see him". he's overly logical as a way of brute-forcing past emotional responses and kick himself into action instead, and presents to others a confident, composed, reliable upperclassman figure.

i say all this to put a foundation for what akihiko's mentality is before shinjiro's death. he's constantly pushing himself and is obsessed with gaining strength in an eternal pursuit "to make up for the weakness he sees within himself" and to atone for a death that "he perpetually blames himself for". he's someone who is awkward and distant because he has constructed for himself an idea of what he must be and what his role in the lives of others is (that being a protector and mentor); and his obsessive, overly-practical, narrow-minded, and goal-oriented mentality is something that bars him from being able to really connect with people. in his P3P link after october 4th, he outright says that he was afraid of letting people in.

so onto the actual question, i would ideally want akihiko's growth to be restructured in a way that emphasizes a broadened outlook on the value of bonds, showing him learning from his past approach and experiences and trying to change for the sake of himself and others. his linked episode in reload repeatedly has him hammer in the point that he's going to protect others, but this didn't need any repetition. maybe once or twice would be serviceable? but it's something they hinge so heavily on as if the fact that he was going to continue protecting people wasn't already self-evident. and it really doesn't show any growth - akihiko was already doing this, has been doing so all his life, and there was nothing to indicate that he'd stop. even with him acknowledging that he'd been blinded by his obsession with strength during his resolution, the ending to that scene showed that he's committed to continuing to fight in sees, and continuing to protect others with the power he has. having him circle back to his promise to protect others as much as they do genuinely doesn't make any sense to me and doesn't do anything for his character. it doesn't communicate anything new about his mentality other than "i was doing this because of a selfish obsession, now i am doing it for the sake of others" but that is a pretty poor way to go about an arc that could've had a much more meaningful and applicable message.

while akihiko mentions it as part of a promise he and shinjiro made to protect others in his 3rd linked episode, they should've expanded on akihiko's change of mentality in how he sees connection. the 3rd linked episode, for the first half of it at least, made me feel like they were capitalizing on this idea. akihiko he tells the group that he was "just hungry and ended up making too much" while we know he actually threw the pancake party because it was something that his sister used to love and he wanted to help everybody cheer up. it shows him, though he might be awkward in how he goes about it, actively putting in an effort to show he friends he cares and to try and cheer them up.

that episode is ruined by how they shift it in the post-party conversation to again reinforce akihiko's "now, i'm going to protect everyone" stuff, but that's the crux of what i wish akihiko's character arc showed: a man who has lived a life consumed by an obsessive and idealist complex - who has never allowed himself to truly connect with others (even having distance with the other two seniors) and who has come to see his purpose as a protector and a mentor figure to others - unravelling that complex and learning how to care and connect with people, not just serve them.

even beyond seeing his way of showing he cares as protecting people, akihiko is not someone who is good at showing his friends that he cares for them. in fact, his mentality directly counters the idea of ever showing vulnerability and detaching himself from his own emotions (with only impulsive, intense emotions coming through). this is something made abundantly apparent in his dynamic with shinjiro, where essentially all of their interactions depict akihiko trying to impose his ideals on his friend: trying to get shinjiro to live and atone in a way that akihiko sees as correct. as aforementioned, while akihiko probably simultaneously simply wanted his friend back and you can certainly glean that in his dialogues, akihiko never expressly communicates to shinjiro anything about what akihiko wants - rather, it's what he perceives as what should be. that shinjiro has a duty to be in sees using his power to protect, that he should sign the papers and go back to school (akihiko never says anything about his own feelings on it to shinjiro, instead he jokes about it and only ever says "you know how much this means to mitsuru), and that he should stop using the drugs. the fact that akihiko does all this to try to get shinjiro back on his feet and live a normal is certainly itself an expression of akihiko's care for his friend, but the way he goes about that doesn't communicate that personal element. this is, yes, reading way too much into it, but my point here is to say that akihiko doesn't like showing anyone vulnerability, even a friend that he's had in his back corner for most of his life, and who notably was his main support after miki's death (as stated in P3ODW). the human element is pretty heavily removed from akihiko's interactions with others. this isn't exclusive to shinjiro at all, it's everybody. yukari even points out akihiko's emotional distance prior to the yakushima trip, feeling that the only thing akihiko cares about is whether or not he gets to fight.

back to the main topic here. again it's not like there was any doubt that akihiko would continue serving in SEES and fighting by his friends' sides after shinjiro's death. you don't need to repeatedly place emphasis on him continuing to protect others, and it instead comes to take away from what could've been. if his growth is just "it was a selfish thing, now it's not as much of a selfish thing", that is such an undercapitalization on what could've been an excellent arc that ties into the themes of the game.

persona 3 is a very meaningful story about life and the value of connections. the entire force that allows the end of the world to be prevented is literally in-game called "the power of friendship". the story of persona 3 acknowledges that death will happen, that it could happen at any time, that in life you will be hurt and that loving others can hurt, but also crucially that it's better to use the time you have to experience life and to love others than to never do so at all.

akihiko's arc to me would've been much more potent if he realized from his best friend's death that he was going about it the wrong way; that merely protecting others isn't enough to communicate that he cares for them; that he can't control fate (this tying into his arcana); that distancing himself, not letting people in, and committing himself to solely getting stronger so that he can save them (and himself) from the devastation of loss can't stop (and didn't stop) it from happening. it would've been much more satisfying and on-theme to show akihiko trying to learn how to actually care for others, even though he might it difficult to. trying to cheer up the rest of the dorm in the third linked episode is a great example of this, and you could further take this storyline and have it connect to shinjiro if you wanted, learning from the ways that shinjiro showed akihiko and others that he cared (though hardly anything like that is really apparent in reload necessarily, so it'd be difficult to execute; point is shinjiro has a lot of media where he shows others he cares in subtle ways and it would've been cool to see akihiko realize and try and replicate it along his healing journey). just showing akihiko reflecting on the past, learning from his faults, and striving to become better for the sake of people he loves is a much more of a healthier conclusion to his story than having him double down on protecting others to the point of saying "yes, i'll continue to protect my friends, and i'll start travelling the world to get even stronger so i can do so better!" (which to me, shows the exact opposite of growth if he's continuing to let his compulsion to protect others further obfuscate and distance him from the people he loves, and shows that he isn't actually moving on at all). he should learn how to be there for people, and how to connect with them beyond the fight.

anyways i've ranted enough, i hope that kind of communicates my overarching problem with how his growth was handled in P3R and how i wish it was instead ^_^