When I first saw it, the first thought was "it's a double of Double X Gundam" (from Gundam X). Yet, they tried to kitbash it into a reasonable fashion. I liked it more than the Strike, which is now owned by Mwu.
You have got to be the only person I've ever seen who prefers the Freedom to Strike. To me, for some reason, Strike is Kira's gundam, freedom is, well, something else. And I'm a huge SEED fan, I mean, I did cosplay Kira....