I really like that Aqua got humanized. So far he only came across as this calculating revenge machine without any human emotion. To me he's always been an unlikeable character. But showing him now actually suffering from losing his mom, makes him more likable to me.
It's not nice to say "hey, I like you better with PTSD" but it is what it is.
Akane seems like a genuinely good person to me and I hope her love will be returned at some point.
Kana really called him out this episode and hit the bullseye. He is always putting up a flawless front, whether that is emotionless stoicism, or feigned geniality like on the dating show. He doesn't know how to express actual emotion because he tries to never feel actual emotion.
I totally get how seeing flaws in Aqua actually makes him more likeable. It reminds me a bit of kintsugi, a pottery repair technique in which the previous breaks are actually highlighted and treated as part of the history of the object instead of hidden, adding to the piece.