>>Sorry guys, I just don't think much of him as a villain. He raises
>>armies and hasn't done anything
>
>Well, yes, because the story hasn't gotten to the point they need to
>be used.
>
>>He's got spies - so do the good guys.
>
>I gotta admit, I'm not seeing how both sides having spies makes him a
>joke.

Let's also not forget, Saionji isn't exactly a spy; he's more like an ace in the hole. Except that most of the group doesn't even know where he is, much less have a way to contact him. And Mia... we don't know -what- the deal with Mia is. There's no explicit mention so far in any of the stories that she's not a fully willing participant in the Order of the Black Rose. The last I can recall her being mentioned before her appearance in Ash Knight (chronologically) was during the Duelist conference after Juniper was brought in.

As for Akio himself, as Gryph himself mentioned in a previous back-and-forth on this subject: the guy -built himself his own plane of existence-. And he did it with an Aes' blood curse on him. And to top it all off, he did that after obtaining a Dukedom in Muspelheim. And all in what, three years?

That takes some serious chops.