The last ten episodes are good. Freedom and Justice are sweet Gundams. With that said, SEED is not the best Gundam series or the best alternate universe series. The Cosmic Era actually has some good ideas, such as Coordinators, some of their technology, anti-ship swords, and other random things. But as a show, it is just poorly executed.
Characters: Kira is apparently a god. Because he can literally beat anyone without even a single scratch. I like it when the main guy's a good pilot, but even the legendary Amuro took his fair share of beatings. Then you have characters like Athrun who do nothing but stutter for half the series until he becomes a "good guy". Then he can kick all kinds of rear. Cagalli never grows up, Le Cruset never becomes more than a one dimensional villain, and the King of Orb sacrifices himself for almost no reason at all. Fllay sort of developed over time, but than she was removed from the main cast for many episodes, until she showed up again just to get blown up. In the end, these characters are very stagnant, something no good Gundam show should be guilty of.
Mecha: Some designs, such as Freedom, Justice, and the Providence are pretty cool. But most of the designs are just underused, seemingly created to sell more model kits. And I do not welcome Zoids.
Plot: The first bunch of episodes basically ripped off MS Gundam, without the cool White Base crew. Then it got horrendously bogged down by flashback after flashback. I kind of wish I could have just watched the last ten episodes only, but only for the cool fights.
Conclusion: Poor excuse for a Gundam series, and poor excuse for an anime series in general. Too bad.
Characters: Kira is apparently a god. Because he can literally beat anyone without even a single scratch. I like it when the main guy's a good pilot, but even the legendary Amuro took his fair share of beatings. Then you have characters like Athrun who do nothing but stutter for half the series until he becomes a "good guy". Then he can kick all kinds of rear. Cagalli never grows up, Le Cruset never becomes more than a one dimensional villain, and the King of Orb sacrifices himself for almost no reason at all. Fllay sort of developed over time, but than she was removed from the main cast for many episodes, until she showed up again just to get blown up. In the end, these characters are very stagnant, something no good Gundam show should be guilty of.
Mecha: Some designs, such as Freedom, Justice, and the Providence are pretty cool. But most of the designs are just underused, seemingly created to sell more model kits. And I do not welcome Zoids.
Plot: The first bunch of episodes basically ripped off MS Gundam, without the cool White Base crew. Then it got horrendously bogged down by flashback after flashback. I kind of wish I could have just watched the last ten episodes only, but only for the cool fights.
Conclusion: Poor excuse for a Gundam series, and poor excuse for an anime series in general. Too bad.