I agree with you with everything. Almost. Katarina Witt was very very pretty!!! very shapely legs and a nice and later sexy body, with beautiful face..I feel like the two biggest things Akiko lacks are 1) consistency and 2) political support/reputation.
The consistency problem hurts her the most, I think. Whenever she starts building momentum, in results and reputation, she then has one or more competitions where she just doesn't land enough jumps. And then her momentum disappears, and she's back to fighting for recognition. She tends to back off her jumps in the exact situations when she needs to go for everything (like in the 2012 Worlds LP). The lack of consistency gives the judges an easy out to mark her down, which then hurts her overall reputation.
She lacks political/judging support. In Japan, it feels like she's seen as behind Mao and Kanako, and this despite the fact that she's beaten both of them several times. For some reason, she never seems to get full credit for her victories over Mao. It's like, instead of saying, "Akiko won that competition," people are thinking, "Well, Akiko did win, but only because Mao didn't do this, or that."
Personally I love her expressiveness and exuberance and wonderful performance quality. I just think she's such a pleasure to watch. And I find the debate about her looks rather odd. Facially, I think she's a very pretty girl, with a most charming smile. It's true she doesn't have the current most-favored skating physique--long-legged, reed-thin, and slightly taller. But so what? I have no personal preference for that kind of physique, nor is there much historical precedent in skating to overtly favor that type of physique. As others have pointed out, some of the greatest skaters in history have also been short and long-torsoed. Among this group: Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen, Kristi Yamaguchi, Katarina Witt!! And many others, I'm sure. Personally I find the current leggy, hyperextended look unattractive and a bit awkward at times. Just my opinion.