This is definitely the best arc in the show, as its where standard robot tropes are played with, there is actual convincing character development instead of characters doing a 180 just to suit the plot, which is why I loved review the three main episodes. This is what it felt like the show was aiming for, (at least at the beginning) instead of the half-baked super robot show the last half was.
I guess the last two are YMMV vary, as normal as Aoyama's excuse may be to some, I found the problems it caused notable (at least two major instances it could've lead to more devastating consequences than Akagi's actions ever could) and the reaction it got underwhelming as a result. And as for Akagi, the not wanting others to die would've been a great mini arc for him if that's how it actually played out, instead of the opposite - he nearly dies because of his teammates failures.
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The Second Arc: Conflict with the Army.
For a show with only 26 episodes, it's important to get arc lengths out of the way - up to Episode 9 and the stealing of the Knot Buster is the first arc, and this arc goes until the President of the company is forced off. This is also the major springboard point for Shirota's personal character arc, which is probably the most potent (aside from his student, he probably changes the most of any character in the show). Plus, it has Kokuboga, which I rather like the design of (more than the titalular robot, actually.)
So the army decides to go all evil army stereotype on Dai Guard and steals the Knot Buster, which they arm their robot, Kokuboga with (Kokuboga being a former Dai Guard prototype that has been massively bolstered in armor to help avert Dai Guard's square/cube law issues), and procede to prove that their machine is better. But of course, in any show like this, the titalular robot will eventually make a return. And the way this show chooses to do so is rather nice. Rather than have the army robot randomly turn evil or somesuch, or have it suddenly be proven inefficient compared to the now more useless Dai Guard, they use something that had been set up from Shirota's debut - the fact that a civilian company is less likely to be influenced by higher ups (or rather, they aren't as likely when the president is awesome). Kokuboga captures a Heterodyne, which leads to it's near-complete destruction when said Heterodyne fuses with it - Dai Guard is called in and debuts the Knot Punisher, a better version of the Knot Buster, and Shirota begins to work for 21st Century Insurance yet again.
It has been noted that Akagi is somewhat out of line in these episodes, and Aoyama's excuse is slightly lame. However, I can see both of those issues being in a normal person - Aoyama doesn't want to lose face in the office, and Akagi is... somewhat hot blooded and doesn't want people to die due to his failures. Of course, most of this gets fleshed out in the next arc... after a recap episode, admittedly.