The dynamic between Aoba and Dio is still shallow in my opinion for them to be more at sync with each other. And it's been more than half the series and we were never shown the impact the war has on the civilian-side of things. It makes Aoba less compelling when the only bond he has is with Hina and make her his reason to fight. The lack of exploration of the character's reason to fight except for Dio makes the fight flashy but without substance at this point of the story.