Marcis I can't really agree about Kira being more God mode than Heero was. The amount of insane things Heero did without getting so much as a few scratches are just silly. Kira might be one hell of a lucky guy when it comes to surviving explosions, but he hasn't really endured anything outside of the Gundam in the same way Heero has. Also both of them have survived explosions, so in the end I'd give the God mode title to the Wing folks.

Also about flashbacks, I agree that it feels like they are sometimes shoved in the show to fill out screentime. On the other hand, when used correctly, it is indeed a great way of telling the story. A good example of this is when Shinn kills Todoka, having Shinn flashback to when he first met the captain at that shelter (or whatever it was) greatly enhanced the entire scene.