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Honestly, pretty disappointing. I was a big fan of SEED and SEED Destiny, watching them for the first time last year. When I found out the story was going to continue in a movie, I was pretty happy. But unfortunately it fell short.
Story:
The plot is very forced. Characters often act out of character just to move the story along (I'll go into more detail in the characters section) and a lot of decisions made are kinda dumb. The Foundation's plan is stupid and they backstab Compass in the open, but somehow nobody notices and everything falls apart. Lacus, despite being the voice of reason ... throughout SEED, is very quick to act in the heat of the moment and order an attack on Kira. The enemies are just carrying on the conflict from SEED Destiny and the larger conflict from SEED in general, which lacks in originality. It also moves very fast, glossing over a lot of plot points and skipping some important details. I understand that it's a movie and there's only so much time, but it's clear the plot side of things was neglected for the more philosophical and romantic side of things.

However, that was a poor choice as neither of the above were handled well. The philosophy is just regurgitated from SEED/SEED Destiny and doesn't bring anything new to the table. And as it doesn't add anything, there's no reason for it to waste so much screentime. The romantic side is mostly just forced drama, with Kira and Lacus drifting apart because the plot demands it, Kira deciding he loves Lacus after all while she tries to avoid cucking him after getting kidnapped, then finally getting together and fighting the enemies together for some reason (they both have their own roles, there's no reason for them to both be in the mobile suit) and finally going back to Earth and just kissing at the end without saying anything. They don't discuss their conflict or the future or anything, the movie just ends. Ultimately nothing is accomplished.

There's also a really unnecessary and stupid retcon regarding Lacus that's just there for the sake of making her relevant to the plot. I hate it.

Characters:
This was bad. The antagonists sucked. This is because everything about them, their plans and origin, weren't really expanded upon. They just show up, pretend to be the good guys for a while, quickly gloss over their backstory and pull out the same plan that was foiled in SEED Destiny. It's just a poor rehash and ends up far less compelling because at least the enemies in SEED Destiny were fleshed out. Most of the characters introduced are just cocky scrubs, the main bad guy is just there to cuck Kira and the blue girl is just there to make him look even more stupid. His entire character revolves around Lacus, and all his platitudes about the greater good are all just tacked on to pretend like his existence has any meaning. He constantly contradicts himself too. The mother and mastermind of the group just exists, but is not fleshed out at all despite apparently creating a new race of humans in addition to the naturals and coordinators and somehow turning into a loli. And then there's Agnes, which I suppose is the CE equivalent of Quess Paraya from CCA. Yeah she's somehow even dumber. Didn't think that was possible.

You'd think the good guys would make up for it right? Not really. Kira regresses to the same edgelord he was in SEED despite all the calming down he did in Destiny, and develops an inferiority complex for some reason even though he thinks he's better than everyone else. He has no reason to be so flustered and affected by Orphee's words but does so anyway because the plot demands that he struggle. By far the worst handled character in the movie. Lacus is usually pretty calm and stoic, but is very quick to decide that Kira should be shot down and cries about it for the rest of the movie while proclaiming her love for him. This is the same character that told Athrun off for trying to kill kira btw. She also heads out in the middle of the battle even though she's usually a commander, which was uncharacteristic of her. Lunamaria also has some kind of issue with Shinn, not really sure what that was about. It was glossed over and honestly just pointless drama.

On the other hand, the other important characters were handled well. Athrun and Mu were as badass as ever, the pair taking some of the best lines in the movie. Shinn was made to look stupid but got his revenge and then some, having probably the most satisfying scene in the final battle. He pulled his weight in the movie and it was nice to see him get some redemption and fight on the other side after all he went through in Destiny. It was nice seeing the rest of them do their thing too, though many recurring characters only made brief appearances. I did take issue with Miriallia and Sai being soldiers again though, seemed out of character.

Art/Animation:
Character designs were mostly fine, I just didn't like the large lips on the women. Felt unnecessary. Lacus also looked like a middle aged woman instead of a 20 year old. Backgrounds were pretty good and overall I liked the visuals. Animation was smooth, but it lacked weight. When two mechs crossed swords, it should feel like these are heave machines clashing at each other at full force, but instead they kinda just touch each other and bounce off. It's not limited to the mecha either, there was a fist fight which also lacked any forces behind the punches.

Music:
Meh. SEED and especially Destiny had some great tracks and they were timed really well, but Freedom fell short. Nothing hit, and the only noteworthy tracks were remixes. It makes it harder to get hyped over the fight scenes like with the prequels.

I guess it's worth watching if you're a completionist and just want to finish SEED, but I wouldn't say it's a good sequel or ending to the series. The only good thing that came out of it was Shinn getting his redemption after 20 years.

All style, no substance - art is phenomenal, but the story is practically non-existent.

It's not much of an adventure, just a guy running around while something (which isn't explained) tries to kill him as he meets a couple of people. It doesn't work well as a survival series either. I have no idea what the manga is trying to convey. Characters don't have much substance to them either.

Art is great though, there are some pretty good spreads. If you just want to see some cool art then you'll probably enjoy it. If you're expecting a story then you probably won't enjoy it.

Pretty good special. Although it was released after the BtW anime, in terms of the manga this actually came first as a one shot. We get to see how Balgo gets involved in the world of Reverse London. That makes this a good entry point into the series, even if you haven't seen the first anime. If you have seen the first anime, I would highly recommend watching this special too.

There's not much to say other than that as the original chapter was more of an introduction to the world of BtW, and this special just adapts that. Characters are fun and quirky, the ... art and animation are gorgeous and the soundtrack is pretty good. Reminds me of those old OVA's from the 80's and 90's. I suppose if there was one thing I didn't like, it's that the tone stayed a little too light hearted during the climax. I feel like a tone-shift would have been good there.

I read the manga for the prequel and went in happy to watch the sequel, which hasn't been translated. But nothing happens. By the time the recap and opening are over, 4-5 minutes have already passed. The pacing is criminally slow on top of that, it took like 10 minutes to cut a piece of rubble with a saw. The anime stretches the content out ridiculously and by the time the episode is over you feel like barely anything happened. Art and animation are on the weaker side, soundtrack is mid, characters get old very quick. Not worth the time.

Pokemon Zensho is a pretty straightforward adaptation of the first pokemon games. It follows the main character on his journey around the kanto region over the course of 10 chapters. The first and last chapters depict the beginning and end of Ash's journey and rivalry with Gary, while the 8 chapters in between and fairly episodic in nature with each featuring one of the gym leaders. It's short and sweet. There isn't much of a story, aside from Ash's rivalry with Gary and his encounters with team rocket. The major focus is on the adventure around the region, and it fulfils its purpose.

If you're heading ... into the series for a bit of nostalgia or you don't know anything about pokemon, this manga should suit you. If you're expecting fun battles like pokemon adventures or the anime, you'll be disappointed as there isn't much action. The lack of action is probably the biggest gripe about the series, but it's not really the focus. The art is decent, the characters aren't bad considering the length of the series and the pokemon are quirky. Ultimately it's not a long read and it's good for what it is. If you're reading this then you're likely a pokemon fan anyway so you might as well try it.

The episode features the main character, Pikachu and his mother. That's it. There are no other recurring characters and no other Pokemon owned by Ash, so a person could watch this special without any prior knowledge of the series. It also won't spoil anything, it's entirely standalone.

Ultimately it's just another adventure with Ash and Pikachu in the fantastical world of Pokemon, but it's very well executed. The story of the episode is pretty interesting and the art style is on point. It's more similar to the movie continuity, for those who have seen the movies. Ash and Pikachu were their usual adventurous selves, though ... you do see a side of Ash that doesn't show up as much anymore.

I think it's worth a watch regardless of what your opinions are on the anime as a whole. It's pretty short but still pretty good.

For the best experience, it's probably best if you have watched the anime first (though this is isn't necessary). The Zexal manga came out slightly before the anime and has pretty much the same setting with the same initial set of characters. Both the anime and manga were written by the same person (Shin Yoshida). While they start off more or less the same, they both go in different directions. In many cases the manga provides anime viewers with alternative situations to the anime.

The characters are more or less the same, though there are less of them than in the anime. This does mean that ... the starting set of characters get a lot of focus and it many ways end up being better characters than in the anime. This applies even to the power trio, who did actually get a lot of development in the anime. It also cuts down on the number of (important) antagonists, meaning that the antagonists we do have get more focus. This is in comparison to Zexal part I though, I would argue that the characters in part II of the anime were better.

The story is more or less the same as the anime, with Yuma and Astral working to collect all 100 number cards. They do face different opponents and therefore have to overcome different strategies and forms of adversity. For a 50 chapter manga, the story is pretty good. The pacing isn't bad either.

The strongest aspect of the Zexal manga was probably the duels - they were GREAT! Remember the original duels from duelist kingdom where characters thought outside the box and pulled out all sorts of creative yet logical strategies to grab the win? Now imagine if they did that while still following the rules. That's what Zexal did. The Zexal manga is aesthetically far better than any other Yugioh spinoff, with the Arc V manga being the only one that can compare (in my humble opinion).

Anyway, give it a shot. It's only 50 chapters and it's worth the time, especially if you enjoyed the Zexal anime. If you're one of those people that hated the beginning of Zexal and didn't get past the first 10 episodes, you should know that the story starts the same way but progresses to the meat of the story a lot faster - as early as the second volume even

So the concept of the anime is very similar to Anohana, and I think that may be part of the reason why people hate it so much - it seems like a bland copy. But just because the concept is similar, it doesn't necessarily mean that Shichisei no Subaru is a complete ripoff. Yes, there are some similarities, but Subaru does execute them differently (though it's hard to be specific about this without spoiling). The main difference though, is the fantasy and action aspect. I think these were implemented well enough to give the anime an original feel, and the monsters were surprisingly cool sometimes. ... I also enjoyed the characters for the most part. Some of them were similar to anohana, painfully so. But they were still given development at least (the main ones anyway) and character development is always nice to see.

My main problem is that it just feels incomplete. I hope we get a season 2 or something to tie up the story, but if the reception there is anything like the reception over here then unfortunately we'll be stuck with this incomplete story.

TL;DR It's not as good as Anohana, but it's still good and worth a watch as long as you don't compare them too much.