Evaluating Zuko’s Redemption - Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism & Avatar: The Last Airbender 

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10 Michael bays

Half the worlds fissionable materials sent as a payload to reignite a dying sun

Cool History Bros I think your wrong, you said that there is a difference that in judeo-Christianity you have good and evil and in conufucianism its being distracted from good. Well thats literally the same thing. In judeo Christianity everything is good until things change and get a revenge feeling you start becoming evil, Satan was good but he got started to get evil because what he experienced so in other words he got distracted from good. Thats how a villain pop up. They were good until they experienced something bad and got distracted from good

@@rtyrnstr3360 That is an interesting perspective. Again, Chinese Christians generally feel there is no important distinction. Personally, I feel that Confucianism had a strong influence on the teaching of Jesus as per the opening of the Silk Road following the Peace of Augustus, so none of this need be seen as any coincidence. I think that, ultimately, Christianity emphasizes the personifications of good and evil whereas the Confucian teachings make it easier to switch paths when corrected. That difference may not seem important, and it doesn't to you. I can't say I disagree, at least in any practical sense.

I kinda want a whole anime that's just that lol

that is perfect!!

Zaheer would have made a phenomenal series villain if he could have had three or four seasons. Amon, too. Kuvira as well. That's what I don't like about the Korra series. The villains didn't get enough time to shine.

@@jamaalfridge and like even just their base concepts bring up good questions to the inherent problems of the world they live in but they got concluded quite poorly I find 😞

Actually like your version better. I would have gone with Zaheer believing the natural order of things is change (not random chaos) and the avatar represent stagnation and obstruction. But still 5 stars for your creativity :D

The Legend of Korra would have been better if they had better writing, had respected the original series and if Nick hadn't kept interfering. Korra is cringe bad on every level.

Malaysian Chinese here, I watched it s it aired when I was like 6-8, and rewatched it when I was 15, never got that feeling though.

@@jnliewmichael4235 maybe there is an age gap factor too, I only watched it recently

Another Malaysian Chinese here, but parents are Christians, so never felt weird when watching Avatar.

我覺得還好咯可能coz我看cartoon network長大的啦

@@elizabethlai4952 Oh right, never taken into consideration of how white washed my christian household is. Any how ATLA and LOK is the best show ever created. Period.

I agree, CJ has hit on something very important here. For example, many Japanese anime use Christian symbols and ideas in ways that completely put me off, almost making them unwatchable. They may feel they are making a tribute or simply adding something for appeal to a Western audience. But it's very hard to do well.

@@ErikHare *coughs* Evangelion *coughs*

@@OhTheDeliciousIrony Yes! That one. Honestly, I forgot the name. Thank you.

TBF, Japan (as well as China, Korea, and Vietnam) are considered the traditionally "Confucian" cultures; Confucianism may not have originated in Japan, but similarly to Buddhism it has massively shaped what Japan is today.

@@ErikHare Maybe I am weird but it never upset me that much when anime does that.

She wouldn't be. Mainstream Confucians believes in human nature is good and there are hierarchy of virtues. Filial piety is big in Confucian philosophy but it doesn't trump everything . From a Confucian angle, the Emperor(Fire Lord in this case), his authority came from the mandate of heaven and thereby still held accountable. And if his orders is harmful to the people, heaven shows its displeasure with portent such as a.) appearance of the Comet (even if it gives power to Fire benders, it is still an omen of change), b.) War (Fire Nationis at war with every other nations), c.) Natural disaster (Volcanic eruption wipe out Roku's island, and later his temple). That would actually give anyone, whether righteous (Zuko?) or ambitious (Azula) a just cause/convenient excuse to pull a Tang Taizhong, overthrow Ozai's arse and house arrest him in a big palace :D

No ! She is crazy and she needs to go down.

That is deeply tragic, I kind of love it. But from a Confucian perspective, Ozai and Azula failed to practice the basic precept of humaneness. Azula's loyalty is comendable, but because she failed to hold Ozai accountable for his lack of humane treatment of everyone around him, and worse, was inhumane herself, she is not acting as a Noble Person should. A true Confucian would try to stay loyal and respectful while also being fully honest with their superiors about the superior's failings, and would refuse as much as possible to do anything inhumane. Think Uncle Iroh, but instead of loyaly staying by Zuko's side, he stuck by Ozai.

No, it’s commonly mistaken that Confucianism means blind familial followership. It’s like if every time someone brought up christianity someone said “yes, sacrificing lambs, and drinking blood.” It’s an out of context distillation. The focus on familial piety is a metaphor for all relationships between people and groups of people. Family was the only relationships people really had before modern work and social culture, everything is framed by that core experience. The king is the father of the country, and like a father should love and protect it’s children, the government should serve it’s people. It’s just a labeling system to make it understandable for laypeople and fit in their worldview.

You might have noticed that the main characters in Part 5 hate drugs despite being Italian gangsters. Apparently, drug dealers are considered some of the worst criminals of all in Japan even by the Yakuza.

@@reefconvy7291 Oh yeah it is Lol drugs are very stigmatized there

@Rainbow Rose Princess Mishti I agree. All the old religions and traditions only talk about honoring your parents and ancestors but they don't talk about what to do if your family is abusive. They don't even acknowledge the problem because to do so one is questioning the wisdom of their elder, their betters, and society. They think it is a bad thing because they don't want people to challenge authority figures when it needs to be criticized. I think this trend is more healthy than mindlessly obeying authority and repeating the cycle of abuse

Yes! Thank you for pointing this out! Personally I've always liked the idea of respecting one's elders and being conscientious about your parents, family, community, and so on but I hate the fact that a lot of older traditions don't emphasize your rights in an abusive family situation, and that there are also ways to cultivate family that aren't restricted to who's biologically related to you. I hate it when elders and family abuse their status and anyone caught up in their toxicity has the right to leave and cultivate their own path elsewhere, yet I also find myself feeling angry at how often I see people mistreating or neglecting their parents just because they can or because they have been spoiled when their parents do nothing but support them. Perhaps because of my own abusive upbringing, seeing this angers me because I think how lucky they are to have parents who actually care about them and they don't even appreciate it. I wish we could cultivate a culture where we aren't afraid to question our elders and their ideas, and where we are free to leave if they are abusive, but we still know to respect and care for them as they have cared for us otherwise.

Christ actually spoke against the ideas of duty of fitel piety in a way that was quite shocking at the time. Mat 10: 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law

@Rainbow Rose Princess Mishti Yep, and I also wanted to add that traditional ways have a blind spot in distinguishing the questioning of authority and disagreement from disrespect. In a healthy society we should be encouraged to question our elders, but still respect them as human beings when they are genuinely trying their best and looking after our well being.

@@butterflydisater my Fear is that one day we would become like them & repeat the cycle. So how would one break this cycle evil karma, among generations of verbal attacks, withheld expressions of love, favoritism, manipulation, deceit, & threats.

The proposed Confucian/Ruist ending is interesting, but it does leave me curious as to what responsibility would typically be laid at the feet of the father for failing to be a good role model for his children in a Ruist context?

@@erraticonteuse it's his father's duty to learn from his more upright son, to try to correct himself and at least be a better grandfather to Zuko's kids.

Well to Ruist or traditional Chinese, your parents and ancestors are more important than Saints or Gods or Heroes, so praying to them is pretty natural. And the Emperor is also called the Son of Heaven, and being the Son of Heaven, he's the only one that was permitted to pray to the Heaven or Shang Di (this is our big G).

The pope simply decided for against the jesuits (which was reviewed later and the Jesuit position accepted) because of politics. Dominicans and Franciscans were on the winning side of the debate at the time.

If you're from a Romance speaking background, it probably has to do with the value of Pietas. Most people don't know this but the. Romans we're pretty big into finial piety

I personally like the energy bending concept but yeah they should've hinted at it more earlier in the series so it doesn't come out of nowhere

@@Spongebrain97 I also liked it but I would have liked it even more if they went into it more like with the 4 elements

agree, avatar has been my favourite show since i was kid but i really wish they had explored aang's moral conflict for more than what- 2 episodes? he knew from the first season that he would need to defeat the fire lord but only realised he had to kill him at the end of season 3? so much more nuance could've been given to this dilemma instead of a magical fix

Personally, I feel they just should have had energy bending work by blocking and unblocking chakras rather than literally bending the soul, basically make it a permanent version of chi blocking with all the same conditions energy bending has in canon. Would be far less jarring considering half the season 2 finale was dedicated to learning about how chakras work.

This happened because the show was cut short. It was supposed to be 4 seasons.

"He wouldn't sacrifice his principles to save the world." The Dragon-Turtle was a Deus Ex Machina that gave him a "get out of jail free" card. Even his past lives told him that the world was more important than his principles.

@@Vasharan you act as if that’s a bad thing.

@@Vasharan the lion turtles had been established since the Library Episode, so no, I don't think it was a deus ex machina.

@@kuroazrem5376 Their existence was established, but not their powers, there is a difference.

​@@basilofgoodwishes4138 Still, it dont matter. Some people can do good without compromising their beliefs.

"Uncanny Valley" may be related to cultural misappropriation; in this instance, sense such usage, rather than leading to a cultural synthesis, it inspires deeper and more profound cultural divisions and misunderstandings.

I think the cultural division is a bit of a stretch there… like bruh its a fantasy show… And as a half asian and half euro mixed person i really appreciated this show growing up, despite the uncanny valley. Because it gave me a place to go in sense that had a blend of these two cultures, like myself who was also lacking in some knowledge of asian customs and language (and this is quite common for mixed asian kids to be distanced or estranged from their asian culture not all obviously but many) Dont quote me on this but i am almost certain that many halfie kids or asian kids in the west enjoyed this show thanks to the uncanny valley a story for them to project on that isint a eurocentric standard

@@MaoRuiqi Perhaps, but culture is an ever evolving and ever shifting thing, changing with the times and spaces it's practiced in. What may be completely normal to say, a Chinese American living in the North could feel at least mildly unusual, if not outright foreign to a Hispanic American living in the South, despite both having equally valid claims to the cultural heritage of being American. No cultural body is wholly united or divided. There are often multiple different, if not conflicting trains of thought existing simultaneously in a culture, because many things can be true at once, and many lies can be told as consequence.

There is nothing Christian about Avatar lmao

@@rizkiramadhan9266 Uhm, there are a lot. Zuko's arc of choosing good and the whole story's duality of good and evil is pretty Judeo-Christian.

Ozai saving Zuko like that makes me think of Darth Vader and Luke. (Appropriate, I guess, with Ozai and Luke both being played by Mark Hamil.)

Ozai is unrepentantly evil, which makes him entirely unredeemable. Sozin was more of a Confucian villain in that he felt he was doing the best thing for the world and tried to get the Avatar on his side. What's more he only launched his campaign after Roku died, and his diary in the Bone chamber shows he regretted it

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the "Villain redeems himself by sacrificing himself at the last moment." Trope feels very western.

@@driver_4151 doesn't sun wukong redem himself by helping takatora or whatever his name was, i mean he wasn't a villain, but he was a menace to the gods.

I think that you are ignoring that Ozai himself has usurped the throne that was rightfully his older brothers, and is already therefore a Confucian monster.

We also have a term for that in my home it's calle "try to take your dust away" But is referred of class, rather than age

That’s quite a terrible term. The misappropriation of biological concepts into other fields have led to a whole host of feral vicious ideologies.

Hence not treating them good. Just formal oooor They have Lost the mandate of heaven they don't deserve respect

In your own opinion, which philosophy in china is the best, im not chinese so id like to learn the perspective of a chinese person whether, legalism, taoism, confucianism, buddhism is the the best or just the most ethical in your point of view.

@@aurelian2668 Confucianism, Taoism & Buddhism is ultimately the philosophy that influence China the most. Everything else (legalism, Mohism etc...) from that era eventually mostly just got absorb into Confucius thinking, since they are the primary academics. As for best, to each his own, personally I have always been partial to Taoism, with Buddhism being a close 2nd. It wouldn't be an uncommon view that Buddhism is the equal and complimentary opposite to Taoism. I can only say Confucianism is the root of China's problem because it is the dominating mind set, it is the philosophy of government & society. The other 2 are more personal, individualistic, so they are not the contributors of the rise and fall of dynasties. Confucius teaching is all about rules, stricture and civility. He is very big about ethics, reason and rationale. His thinking may even be somewhat nice if everything is 'ideal' but things are rarely ever ideal. In his world, hierarchy and relationships of society are suppose to have mutual respect and care for each other. Otherwise, things eventually, rightfully falls apart. Like, competent leaders will rule long and well, abusive ones will eventually lose control due to mismanagement and be replace etc. The problem is that he didn't realized that his teachings and strictures, are usually the batons of social pressure that kept abusive systems & relationships pass their sell by date. That's why it's the philosophy of government, hierarchy and conservative. Because the more powerful always gets to interpret what is 'right' and 'good' in any relationship. It's kind of like Christianity. Christ can talk all about love and compassion... didn't really stop Christianity from any of the really bloody history, that even now seeks dominance over policies that aren't good for anyone.

The problem is that Zuko were not able to see the wrong in his father's action so he blindly follow his father. He should instead tried to correct his father and even if he needs to resort to violence, imprisoning his father is a big no no, house imprisonment and force abdication would have suffice. And Islam is another subset of Judaism just like Judeo Christianity, so of course you can relate to it.

In terms of "cultural uncanny valley" it's not the big things. Like CJ mentioned, it's the little things that make us think, "hmm.. nice try. But something feels really off," to us Asians. . I think the best comparison would be to ask Western people to read manga or watch on anime, and have them tell Asian people what they think of when Western people are portrayed in manga/anime. It's probably something like that. ... (ps) on second thought, maybe not.. since I don't think I've ever seen a Japanese anime/manga depict Western people differently from their classic stereotyping..

@@kweassa6204 As someone who watches a lot of anime I can honestly say it’s portrayal of westerners never bothered me. I will admit I laugh at the idea that were all blonds though.

@@animalia5554 Oh for sure. You guys are all blonde, all super-tall, all muscle men, most have either mustache and/or sideburns, and always laugh "HA HA HA" and speak weird Japanese. HA HA HA

@@kweassa6204 I wish. LOL

I think perhaps there is a sort of in-world Taoist element in how Zuko chose not to be the one to fight his father, even with the advantage of the eclipse. He prefers to recognise and submit to the natural order (of this world build) that the balancing role belongs to the Avatar, thus correctly identifying his own proper role instead of trying to transgress it to satisfy a personal need for revenge/closure.

@@nurainiarsad7395 very true wish the video maker addressed this

As a Vietnamese-French, this show also hit close to home, wherever it is

Not at all. Azula’s relationship with her father is the same as that between Dwight and Micheal in the Office. She is only subservient because she believes that it will lead to her replacing him as the ruler. If she thought that was unlikely or that her father was weak enough to be overthrown she wouldn’t think twice in betraying him.

@@Liliquan That's not entirely true, sure she wants to be ruler but she also wants her fathers approval just like Zuko does, the only difference is that she has it, even if she is seen as a pawn by her father. Azula has shown utmost intelligence, power, beauty, cruelty, tyranny, and machiavellian behavior much like her father. The only thing/s she doesn't like is being treated less or like her brother by her father, her mother, and lack of control through fear. We have seen evidence of this throughout the last season when she spirals, this becomes even more prevalent in the comic books.

So maybe they would have had to change Azula's character long before the ending. Just like in order for Zuko to be redeemed in a classical Buddhist way, you would have had to change how the bending system works right from the get go. After all, if we're talking about how different philosophies would have ended the series, it makes sense to imagine "what if they had written the entire series."

I'd argue it's the closest any western animated show has ever come to being an anime. It has a rather good synthesis of western and eastern philosophies and concepts, arguably too good, as discussed in the video. Whilst major story beats are very clearly western, such as the traditional western chosen one trope or the modern western denouncement of abusive families, the story is littered with minor eastern themes, from hei bei's shinto-reminicent reverence of nature, to the taoist philosophy of wan shi tong's abstinence from the affairs of humans in fear of his knowledge being used for atrocities, to Aang's misunderstanding of the concept of attachment leading him to putting the entire world in danger. Interesting, the eastern elements are often represented through characters and conflicts which aren't inherently antagonistic towards the protagonists, but end up becoming so through the protagonists' lack of understanding of spirituality and/or the spirit world and its inhabitants. Had Aang understood that attachment referred to needs and not wants, he would have been able to master the avatar state without giving up on his love for katara as he feared he had to. Had the earth kingdom villagers showed even the smallest amount of care for the local forests rather than leaving them to smolder in the wake of the fire nation army, hei bei would have never been enraged at them. Had Aang understood wan shi tong's point of view, he may have been able to convince them that he had no ill intent and wished only to save lives, not take them. In that way, Aang, as a highly spiritual air nomad, could be seen as analogous to an eastern kid thrust into a western culture, struggling to both retain his heritage whilst becoming successful despite being surrounded by a culture foreign to him and often directly contradictory to that which he was raised to believe. Whilst he falters at the end of season 2 due to the blindspots in his understanding of his native culture, he ultimately redeems himself at the end of season 3, not by embracing the methods of the culture he found himself in as he tried during the day of black sun, but by embracing his native culture.

i agree. i've had a very similiar experience. sometimes you truly do have to cut your losses and quietly bow out. for zuko in particular, i like the idea of a hybrid ending. i really like the idea of zuko leaving without trying to confront ozai, teaching aang firebending to atone for his past wrongdoing, and then leaving it all behind to live a simple but happy life. nothing wrong with that. he never struck me as a particularly "political" person to begin with. a person with strong convinctions and resilience, yes, but not a politician. and the idea of him living in peace after all the turmoil in his life, while maybe not dramatic from a western pov, is still quite satisfying. "a man needs his rest" after all

There’s a western saying “Sins of the father”. For Asians, it’ll be “Sins of the family” so we keep everything hush hush and project a united front. My father was an abuser later in his years due to drugs. We are part of the 20% so there’s no money issue. We keep the facade to show unity, a strong family which in turns brings my father more business deals. In turn, more money and stability. If there’s a choice of death or jail, death would be preferred. Prison will be attached to our family name and will have lesser prospects in the future. My mother divorce him which was kept quiet. I never saw him for 5 years until now, he’s under heavy medication and has calmed down. Everyone thinks they’re still married. She still introduce him as husband and he introduces her as wife but they’re only business partners. I myself would execute Ozai after a trial.

@@MrChopstsicks yike ozai in jail is that off? That we could imagine him forced captive to his enemies by his son or executed by his son. As to just imprisoned?

A Daoist would say: trying to make a perfect system to prevent devastation is ultimately futile, however utter/complete chaos is also impossible. Because in chaos, righteousness, loyalty, talent with be highlighted and treasured. Heroes will appear and get a chance to shine by trying either to restore order from the extreme or to fulfill their own wild ambitions. (Paraphrasing Dao De Jing Chapter 18) "The Empire, long united, must divide; long divided, must unite." - Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Yeah, I didn't really like the redeem the Firelord part either as the show is. He's a narcissist devoid of empathy. He only cares about others to the extent they are useful. But the show doesn't throw away the idea that he could improve himself. At the end of the show Zuko expresses the hope that he might reflect on his actions during his time in prison. The creators had even thought out a possible redemption arc for Azula. They believed in the potential good in everyone rather then the inherent or innate good.

Obligation to one's children is a very interesting solution. In Confucianism, even though theoretically the parent is supposed to have the same amount of obligation to their children, in practice, it's always the filial piety to the parent that's emphasized.

@@CoolHistoryBros We love and honor our parents, but we don't submit to them, nor we assume that they are always right. Family is about love and helping each other, not about obedience. We are too carefree for that.

@@CoolHistoryBros That is true. The Spring and Autumn Era took this to the extreme with some sons even getting rid of themselves (in battle) if they were seen as threats to the overall family. Though this action was not praised, it was instead reviled by the leading scholars of the court who told the young prince that his father was not acting as a father should regarding his child. So the Spring and Autumn Chronicles shows this as a point of exaggeration, that a son should not sacrifice themselves just because of their father's displeasure.

@@alessandrodelogu7931 That's a very interesting way to look at it through your Italian lens. It's like finding that balance of honoring your family yet still having that equality between one another rather than submitting to a hierarchy. Your Family is like a code to live by. I find your comment very profound, as I'm someone from an Asian Confucian background. Italians and East Asians both emphasize family and traditions. But the Italians seem individualistic about it. Now contrast that with Americans, the typical American family is broken and just there just to take care of you till you're age 18. After that you are on you're own, live on your own, and parents will be in and out of your life as you figure out your needs and wants.

@@lordkent8143 We are individualistic, but not as much as Americans. It's unthinkable to just drop your sons when they're 18, because it's objectively hard here to find a job, especially one paid enough for you to live on your own. So adult sons often keep living with their parents for years, until they reach the financial stability needed to leave and start a new family. This is not frowned upon in Italy as it would be in America. Even after leaving the family home you see your parents and relatives quite often. We tend to look for a job and a house in the same city, or the closest possible, to where our family lives. Many people to find a job have to migrate far away from their native town or region, but this is generally seen as a disgrace. Families should stay united.

Got me thinking of his baby picture when you said that. Considering he lost his bending in the end, Ozai was no threat and reform would have been possible by learning from his son's example of compassion and honor to his family and nation.

They don't say nobody is born evil; they say that anybody is capable of great good and great evil

Im a european, and i like this confusian ending. This classic bad guy image of Ozai dosen't fit to the rest to the world. Ozai was formed by his farther Azulon. Yes Ozai is powerhungry and fanatic, but a figt between Ozai and Zuko would have been awesome. And betail and becoming ruler of the world does fit very good to Azula.

@@True_Justice-5.18 Would you say the same thing for someone like Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin?

​@@brandonlyon730 HAHAHAHHA lots of people think that Psychopaths can be redeemed, they cant because they have a neurological defect that disallows them to feel empathy, not that they dont want to, its that they literally cant feel empathy and love.

It's so interesting to read/see how asian people view western ideas of individualism and authenticity.

They got some good writers i think so

Given how in the later half of Season 2 of Korra they introduced a God/Satan allegory, I'm inclined to agree. ...Man, was the idea of a "Dark Avatar" horrendously stupid.

@@ohwowitsthatguy9154 IMO, they should have delved into the "progress vs tradition, industry vs environment" themes early S2 of Korra had and made the human and spirit worlds initially one whole world, with Raava a spirit almost too forgiving of humanity's transgressions and Vaatu a spirit outraged by humanity's devastation of the environment. Have the Wan flashback's conflict be that a ceasefire between Raava and Vaatu relies solely on humanity staying on the back of the lion turtles who promised to seal the humans' abilities to bend and ensure the humans under their watch won't harm the surrounding environment, but as power is centralized in the hands of the powerful, more and more like Wan are forced to break the rules of their society and leave the lion turtles in order to survive. Wan's goal, rather than learning the elements to stop Vaatu, would instead be to mediate the crisis on each lion turtle, at each one befriending a bending master and promising to return one day to train with them. When he returns to Vaatu, Vaatu acknowledges Wan's efforts, but remains unconvinced humanity has changed their ways, and is thoroughly convinced the lion turtles cannot keep them in check. Wan then offers to use harmonic convergence to divide the world in 2, and together with Raava work as the medium between the two. Vaatu dismisses it, believing no human can change all of humanity in one lifetime, so Raava offers to become one with Wan, allowing his future reincarnations to maintain a connection to the past that would otherwise be forgotten. Vaatu agrees, but on the condition that the ceasefire ends the moment the division erodes at the next harmonic convergence. Wan dies on a random battlefield some time in the future as in the show, but having never fulfilled his promise to train with the friends he made and having never learned to bend. Suddenly, Unaloq and Vaatu are more than just chaos loving edgelords but rather individuals radicalized by humanity's most destructive tendencies, the avatar becomes master of all four elements by learning each element one by one throughout their many lives, rather than being gifted each element because they're the hero, and Wan, rather than some dude who fused with spirit god and imprisoned spirit satan, would be defined by being the mediator between humans and spirits.

I contend the point on her defending Zuko. She was setting him into that position to manipulate him since his restoration into the family was contingent on deception, and she had a history going all the back into childhood of antisocial behavior (she is a pretty blatant case of Antisocial Personality Disorder... maybe Borderline as well?). This was often and especially targeted at Zuko. That said, I totally agree with the rest. Azula literally drove herself insane in her insecurity and quest for approval and affection, especially that of her parents. While I can see her killing Zuko quite easily, her father would require either a fundamental rewrite of the character, or a handling similar to Ning Chuan from this series en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_Phoenixes

​@@nevisysbryd7450 I agree that Azula is manipulative by nature, and the environment she grew up in would lend itself to the development of an antisocial personality, but I still think she's loyal in her own way to Zuko. The issue I have to raise is, if it's Azula's plan to manipulate Zuko based on the false circumstances of his restoration, it's not a very clever one. Far below the standard of what she's shown herself capable of. A few reasons for that. The biggest one is, if she wanted to control the Fire Nation, she could just become the Fire Lord. Easy way to do that is just to have some Dai Li agents grab Zuko right after the overthrow of Ba Sing Se, then haul him back to the Fire Nation as a captive and not tell people that he killed the Avatar. If he's lucky, he'd be thrown into prison at that point, having no influence with anyone, and Azula would be Ozai's only rightful heir remaining. There's no mention of women not being allowed to be Fire Lord, and we see a female Fire Lord in Korra. If there were a ban on women being Fire Lord in Ozai's time, I doubt Ozai would have been so quick to banish his only male offspring from the kingdom. So there was no legal reason for Azula to install a Fire Lord she could manipulate instead of just setting herself up to inherit that position for herself. Another problem is, that's a threat she can't pull the trigger on. Since she vouched for the claim that Zuko had killed the Avatar, she'll go down right along with him if she later reveals that she had lied about that. And that's if she's even believed. If Zuko insists that he did kill the Avatar and that Azula's new claim is a lie, it's her word against his, and he's the elder brother and first heir. It would look more like she had just suddenly decided to make up a new story because she was jealous. And once Zuko actually becomes Fire Lord, it's even worse. At that point, he has all the necessary power to just get rid of her. She's just some person with potentially damaging information on him that has earned no good will. Off to some secret prison she goes before she can even say anything. So basically, while she might have some psychological reason for preferring a Fire Lord she can manipulate over being a Fire Lord herself, the intelligence of that approach as a practical matter is dismal. And even if that's the case, it remains true that she doesn't want to be the Fire Lord. The other issue is, she never actually threatens him with any of his secrets. Not even subtly. If she wanted to manipulate him, she would need to sow the idea into his head that his restoration was based on a lie and it would be very bad for him if that secret got out. But if anything, she just tells him not to worry about it. She's really not shown to be controlling him with any success at all at any point between his return to the Fire Nation and when he leaves again. She knows how to manipulate people, so she really should be better at pulling his strings if that's really what she's doing. So the way I view it is, she legitimately tried to help Zuko, and when he finally left to join Aang, she felt deeply betrayed. She went through all that effort to give him a second chance at the life he was "supposed" to have, and he just tossed it all aside and dismissed her as a manipulative liar. So, by the end of the story, she was indeed in a state of mind where she could have killed him easily. But earlier on, she had actually wanted to help him. At least, that's what I see as the reasonable take. And if it's not the actual intent, then it would probably produce what I would consider to be some flaws in the writing.

@@dewdrops8831 Convincing Zuko's father would have been unrealistic in my views. Honestly, even Zuko taking the throne and changing things is complicated as that's not how imperialism works.

Azula becoming the main villain goes against her entire character though so this doesn’t work.

It would remove Aang's moral conflict from the plot. In each rewrite Aang seems to become a pointless character, I guess the avatar idea is very messianic.

Although i'm not sure which type of Japanese stories depicting historical Europeans we are talking about here.. If it was a fantasy sort of story with historical European setting then it doesn't count because most of Japanese fantasy set in European setting used in most anime and manga are mostly based on the Dragon Quest game. The culture in the Dragon Quest game is a combination of many different culture but has no specific nor absolute cultural customs and values. I think Vinland Saga was one of the actual historical based fantasy anime which is what i assume you are talking about. The uncanny feelings toward it sure existed. But then again, Romance of the Three Kingdoms adaptation in Japan also have a lot of differences to the original version. It shows that the media they produced are directed toward the domestic market. The portrayal of foreign setting may always be romanticized as it always does when you are using a new setting for your world building but its kind of expected. Like how the Koreans really loved the Victorian era setting for their fantasy for example but still, it is made for domestic market so i wouldn't be surprised if they depicted the people in their Victorian setting acted like a Korean and have Korean values, its just to make the story more engaging to the domestic market and easier to understand. There is a lot of potential to outsider attempting to depict a foreign cultural setting though such as Kung Fu Panda. The Kung Fu Panda sent the Chinese scrambling not because they hate it but because they like it and thinking why can't they portray themselves as beautiful as the world of Kung Fu Panda. It has uncanny valley all around it but the Chinese know the film maker loved Chinese culture through its depiction even with all its imperfection. This is the power of Romanticized view based of the appreciation of that culture. It can flashes out the potential of the culture they are depicting to the people who are born in that culture (It even summoned Chinese Kung Fu Panda knock off, can you believe that?). For me personally, I think i only have a problem with the uncanny valley if the creator said their goal is for accuracy and then they misrepresented foreign values and customs or just make a mess out of it and claimed that they have consulted with expert or insisted that their depiction is the truth (Such as Raya and the last dragon and Vikings: Valhalla).

I remember reading somewhere that bending genetics is largely influenced by a cultures spirituality, so more materialistic and grounded cultures like the Earth Kingdom tend to have a higher percentage of non benders whereas the highly spiritual air nomads generally all have bending. Hello Future Me has a really good video on it.