In Defence of the "Strong Female Character" (ATLA/One Piece)

[@stellariguess6795]

people who complain about nami do need to realise that nami is the whole backbone of the crew like you mentioned, without her the straw hats would be in the middle of the grand line dying of thirst and hunger

[@jcjvcjc98]

Nobody complains about Nami. It doesn't happen with any relevant frequency.

[@EllaRos3]

A lot of the time the people who complain about Nami are the people who have never watched/read one piece and only judge biased on word of mouth or her appearance

[@fatthanosfeet]

@@jcjvcjc98 You'd be surprised how many people hate Nami for stupid reasons

[@audreyholmes9751]

Not only that but she's the one who manages everyone's spending so they have enough money to even buy their most important necessities... Which we've seen Luffy being the golden retriever brained loveable dolt he is, has been more than too happy to spend on partying, and by extention, on food. She also helps on the planning front and dumbs it down enough for Luffy to do his role in it...and has the street smarts/common sense that a handful of the others lack.

[@jemilanenestj2522]

​@@audreyholmes9751 Sanji helps here and there but mostly it is Nami. And also we have seen countless times Luffy blowing through the money and the next episode ending with nothing to eat😂😂. Mind you it happens when she was watching them over, imagine what would happen if she is out of the picture 😂😂😂.

[@raitorino7520]

The difference with Nami and Sakura isn't just the context. Sakura's dream is to get with Sasuke which is shallow and quite honestly unjustified given how Sasuke has tried to kill her multiple times.

[@Yingkoos]

That’s another great point 😮

[@emperorluffy6001]

Yeah but a lot of women are just like that. If you're hot and you treat her terribly she'll keep running back to you. It makes absolutely 0 sense but I've seen it happen. They just love the bad boy types.

[@Yingkoos]

@@emperorluffy6001 grow up bro

[@Kim715xd]

@@emperorluffy6001 Haha, yeah because boys are known for picking the smart quiet girl. Women with self-respect want a man who can take care of himself, who takes responsibility and shows respect.

[@arminkir9389]

@@emperorluffy6001yet she doesn’t grow from this we could of atleast had a conversation with her or inner monologue of her realizing how much sasukes drastically ruins her life

[@5001Fergies]

“She tended to boss people around and she wasnt as fun as the others” being a complaint is proof that media literacy is dead 😭 those are character traits that display how watching her mother get burned to death when she was only a child affected her 😭

[@Yingkoos]

10/10

[@kingfabaro2705]

Hate

[@nouration9685]

the difference between Sakura and Nami is simple. what you described, for Nami, that's her flaws, for Sakura, that's her entire personality. Nami has all these flaws, but some of them are more watered down compared to Sakura, and she has a lot of redeeming qualities and a strong backstory to justify both her flaws and strengths. Sakura on the other hand, her bad qualities are less justified, and they are more predominant than her strong qualities people bring up trying to defend her (healing Naruto or X character, defeating Sasori, etc...) also I feel Nami's backstory is underrated, she's a true hero. most of the Straw Hats' backstories are about stuff happening to them and them being unable to do anything about it or barely adapting to survive. Nami on the other hand, took matters into her own hands and added to her suffering, effectively sacrificing herself to save her village, despite being a young and fragile little girl, it was really heartbreaking seeing the huge burden she had to bear all these years, and I can't help but smile every time I see her having fun or letting the others handle things.

[@BraveryWing26]

Extremely amazing post. I've never seen it put like this and it is true.

[@xdrago1051]

Im gonna add to the Nami having reasons behind her negative traits real quick because i want people to know just how well she's written because she really is just peak writing. A very big "negative" trait people see in Nami is that shes money hungry and selfish with it but a lot of people dont realize that this wasnt just because she was poor growing up. It was due to her adopted mothers death and how she died. Her family and loved ones were all put in serious danger and or just straight up died because of a lack of money. To Nami having money means having safety, Nami sees money not as "ooh shiny, bigger numbers in the bank" but as "i can use this to protect those around me". This is why Nami was so distraught at not being able to save Camie from slavery. Because once again her lack of money was going to take a person she cared for away. Theres so much more to this and so many examples but i dont want to make this too long. All of her negative traits have this kind of depth and reasoning behind them. To the reason shes so aggressive and distant all the way to her cunning manipulative behavior or even her oversexualization. It all has reasons for existing unlike Sakura. Nami is a masterfully written character.

[@Gyrodelo]

I really don't get the hate Katara gets for yelling that at Sokka. Aside from her age, Katara was enraged AF. Her actions are not justified, because it is pretty sh*tty to say that to your brother, but understandable. The point of making her say that to Sokka is to show how her grief makes her anger control her impulses. Her grief was on full display! If anything, it makes her a more human character.

[@Yingkoos]

I just wish people would appreciate that more she can still not be your favourite but realise she adds greatly to the story, she doesn’t take away

[@niggafr]

Being mad is no excuse to say rude/demeaning things. I don’t care being that it’s an animated tv show, but I think my point stands.

[@Yingkoos]

@@niggafrall these characters have got mad or said stupid or hurtful stuff. They’re human like us and make mistakes. That’s what makes theme great characters

[@malikpierre-louis3343]

i do agree with you guys t i just wish they showed a scene of Katara apolygising later to Soka

[@niggafr]

@@Yingkoos I’m not trying to single katara out, I love katara s character but I still think you should hold your tongue or at least watch what you say when you’re angry. Also I think it’s understandable that Sokka replaced his moms face with katara as they look very similar

[@wolwilm]

forgive my word vomit but every time I see someone say they hate katara because she was mean to zuko an angel loses their wings like she was so justified in her anger at him like did you guys watch the show with your eyes closed holy shit 😭 were you not there when he did that shit in the crystal catacombs?? when he taunted her with her dead mother's necklace?? when he spent months causing genuine harm to her and her loved ones to get to aang??? boohoo she was mean to him i love zuko but he totally deserved that shit and she could've been SO much meaner. the fact that he had to WORK for her trust and her friendship made their later dynamic so much more meaningful and if she had been so trusting after what he did in the catacombs season 3 wouldn't have been as impactful and it's so disappointing to see people hating on her for how she acted towards him. she was so slow to trust him because she had been quick to in the past and got hurt for it, i would have understood if she never forgave him at all. ppl fr expect too much from her

[@Yingkoos]

They really do expect a lot from Katara 😂

[@memebrain2177]

It's as if katara isn't a perfect character herself because she's flawed too Even being petty as to convert her hatred towards the fire nation through zuko Because she's not perfect Which makes her a good written character

[@DBZFANX1000]

I didn't mind katara disliking zuko but there was times it was annoying. Like when zuko saves katara from getting crushed by a rock and she goes of to give him an attitude thats not the time to be in your feelings. People are trying to kill you ma'm lock in. There is no time fore this shit right now thats really the only time where i was annoyed katara and kind of just wanted her to shut the hell up. Besides that any other time is understandable to me.

[@Treblebeatgames]

Anyone who does not like Nami are actually just plain wrong to think that. She is literally the entire reason the entire crew has even survived to the point that they have. Between navigation, and knowing how to helm a ship before getting Jimbei, and also how she just knows how to endure long travels, it's clear that Luffy would have drowned in the East Blue without her. Would have died before getting to alabasta if she didn't get healed in Drum Island, and so on and so forth. She is the backbone of the ship, and we stan.

[@Pooya1484]

2 shows, one with no confusing depth, just simple and straight forward, and one complicated with more easter egg than episodes count, but both of them are masterpieces.

[@Yingkoos]

Damn right

[@justarandomchick767]

can we also talk about the fact people expect perfect characters....but then shit on actual perfect characters, the ones with flaws that feel natural and possible. like katara lashing out at soka about their mom, i did something like that as a kid i told my niece ''atleast i have a dad'' because teens and kids lash out without thinking. both katara and nami to me are perfectly written, because they are emotionally flawed, nami aswel people always call her shitty for being money obsessed........as if she wants money for selfish reasons, meanwhile it is literally part of her trauma. if she had more money her mother would still be alive, she literally no hesitation went to give all her money away to save camie.

[@Yingkoos]

👆

[@slayerz8]

To be honest at first I also disliked Katara but then I started to understand her more as I have gotten older and now I actually like her alot as she feels like a character that is real and authentic. I also think Toph is a really interesting portrayal of a strong female character she doesnt feel like the female characters that are forced to be masculine.

[@Yingkoos]

Its funny you say that last part because originally Toph was supposed to be this super masculine guy character then the creators thought it would be funny to make her a seemingly week girl

[@dragonized9758]

I can't agree with you more on this topic, whenever I complain about a female lead, it's not that she's strong independant woman, It's that she's a strong independant woman that have no flaws to her character and surrounded by idiots that is just there to make her look smarter. I want a character that actually have a personality that is interresting and fun to watch, that matches well and compliment the characteres around them and vise versa, but still have struggles that can't easily be overcome because of some random bull. Even some of my favorite female characters are strong woman, like Artoria Pendragon from Fate/Stay night, and Erza Scarlet from Fairy tail.

[@Yingkoos]

Honestly, I could never stand damsels in distress and much prefer a female character with a strong personality. But these charcters like all characters should be treated like actual human beings, allowed to grow make mistakes, learn, and become better. Instead of some corporate check box

[@cptndunsel2670]

Strong female characters are not inherently bad. Female characters who lack depth and were only created to deliver a feminists power fantasy are bad.

[@Yingkoos]

Regarding this part of your point "." I don't necessarily agree because power fantasies aren't inherently bad either. A large part of the appeal of series/movies like Dragon Ball, Fight Club, and American Psycho is the exploration of the male power fantasy. So equally feminist power fantasies have the right to exist. And can even be great. My point is that strong female character types need well-built justifications within the story for their actions, personality, and behavior so they don't come off as annoying or just inauthentic

[@corrinflakes9659]

@@Yingkoos well it is moreso shallow attempts at the power fantasy. I don’t believe media should be stripped of politics let alone messages (y’know, themes, the basis of any narrative), but great messages deserve great stories to rest upon them like a lighthouse of wisdom. Just as you described.

[@Yingkoos]

@@corrinflakes9659nice

[@cptndunsel2670]

So, I see what you are saying about women having the right to their own power fantasies, and I want to clarify that when I use the term 'power fantasy' I am talking about characters who effortlessly power through every obstacle that they face without facing any real adversity, as a cheap way of making them look strong. I will also add, that I think that male characters who follow this trend are also bad.@@Yingkoos

[@Yingkoos]

@@cptndunsel2670 well said

[@tbhgodrick6120]

Having strong female characters isn’t bad. Characters like Katara and Toph, Robin and Nami, etc. are examples of strong female characters that are beloved overall. Write good characters. The hate for these “strong female characters” in modern society is often because the characters are just bad characters. Characters like Rey, Captain Marvel, She Hulk, etc. are just terribly written. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@KaijuKes]

I think the problems with CM and SH are MCU only. The source material is better. It's not preachy and shows not tells about the adversity they face.

[@AJ-nh9qm]

Captain marvel isn’t even that bad. She’s just boring. And why r they the poster people for ALL women characters?

[@tbhgodrick6120]

@@AJ-nh9qm 1. No she really is that bad. Written to try to be this insanely perfect Mary Sue character. 2. They’re poster children for this because they’re being forced on people the hardest. There are plenty of poorly written characters out there, but not many of them have this much money behind them, critics that try to shame people for not liking them, and media pressure to get behind them.

[@wr5488]

Yeah comics She-Hulk is dope! Comics Captain Marvel though… she sucks. She was the villain of Civil War 2 pretty much, was CLEARLY in the wrong, did hella questionable/bad things and got off with no repercussions.

[@DelightfullyMADD]

@@KaijuKes Eh, I'd agree in regards to She-Hulk, but Captain Marvel isn't much better in the comics to be frank. There's a reason her character has been rebooted so many times, because her comics don't sell despite comic writers desperately wanting to make her character 'work'. Captain Marvel is as overpowered as Superman, but unlike Superman where writers still try to tell interesting stories with him, no real effort is made to be interesting with Captain Marvel. Her whole shtick is basically "She's super duper powerful and she's a woman guys! If you don't like her... well you're just sexist who hates strong women", despite the popularity of (comic) She-Hulk with male readers proving this absolutely false. Captain Marvel has always been a wet fart of a character, and she always will be because her whole concept is just to be a stupidly OP female character that never gets any real depth. There's been a few depictions of her I've seen that have been tolerable (Avengers Assemble I believe, or maybe Earth's Mightiest Heroes) but even in those she's boring and forgettable.

[@odenodi]

I love how you explained the Katara - Sokka issue... I've always thought of it like that... Like she obviously did, it wasn't even a lie! Plus they pinpoint her errors, even the ones she repents from when everybody else gets less issues because they repent.

[@Yingkoos]

We all just gotta remember these are kids put in a war they were all gonna make big mistakes. So they need grace

[@abiade9614]

I think one of my favourite Katara moments was when she decided not to kill the man who killed her mum. She went back to the gang and explained she doesn’t actually know why she didn’t do it. She couldn’t tell if she was too weak to do it or strong enough not to but regardless she still held so much pain and anger and therein lies one of my favourite traits about Katara. I love that she didn’t choose forgiveness or to take the high ground she was just genuinely conflicted on what to do and that was enough to make her hesitate. There’s something so inexplicably humane about that, that’s just so underrated. It diverted from the cliché in the most introspective and profound way, and it made her awfully relatable and human.

[@orangeslash1667]

The reason is because the man was so weak and no longer in power, that killing would be point less because he already suffered.

[@abiade9614]

@@orangeslash1667 that’s one perspective yes. But we can only truly guess, which is what makes it so interesting.

[@orangeslash1667]

@@abiade9614 It reminds me of Hiei's back story from Yu You Hakusho. He was abandoned by his own village since he was an infant and wants revenge. He would grow up and eventually find the village. Once there he found that he pitied the ice demons because he felt that as they were, they weren't truly alive to begin with due to their cold hearts and frosty disposition, and so left them live, feeling death would be too good for them.

[@Deode-d4h]

When it comes to female characters of One Piece, the only real accusation you can throw at Oda is his lack of body diversity. Most of them share the "Nami" body type. But honestly I think Oda just loves big booba and thin waists. It's not a good reason mind you, but I think that's Oda's reason. I will give a soft pass to Boa because her beauty plays an integral part of her characterization. When it comes to the female character writing, I think Oda is one of the best ones in the anime industry. Especially for shounen writers. I would have included Gege too, but he keeps killing them off and one of the last surviving women in JJK has a super sus relationship with her younger brother.

[@poomipatlurkudom3883]

True, Oda is very underrated when it comes to female writing

[@ΚρανίΩ]

I think oda said he liked big boobs so thats why he draws the women like that, his whole story when people ask him for example how long luffy can stretch oda responded some shit like 30 000 gomu gomus, keep in mind he never gave an equivalent in another metric, his story is basically, fuck it we ball i wanna do that its my story thats what ill do.its also why one piece is still goofy at times, oda said people asked him why the straw hats aren't more serious because the series should be more serious the closer they get to their goal and oda just said he didn't like that.

[@haileys5224]

I loved that moment of “you didn’t love her like I did” for katara. I mean I hated seeing it because i was such a hurtful thing to say, but it was a beautiful moment that showed her character. In the beginning she was a bit of a marry sue. I always loved her character but her flaws early show were really palatable. She was earnest and stubborn but she was always empathetic and filling in as a the care taker. She was a dangerous bender, the mediator, the cheerleader, and the gangs pseudo mom. She always had to fill the responsibile role while everyone around her got to be a kid. She was parentified at a young age after experiencing the most traumatic event of her life. She had to deal with the survivors guilt on her own as her mother was stolen from her and here culture was being agressivly erased. She had to carry that weak wounded child that was only alive via her mom’s sacrifice for her whole life. Sokka got to get a kid, got time to somewhat process his trauma. Kataras childhood ended that day. While sokka sees kataras face when he think of his mom, katara probably sees her mothers face as she was dragged out of the igloo. That wound never healed she just grew around it as it festered. That moment she screamed at sokka was her breaking point. It was an awful thing to say. But as someone who has lost a mother, grief can turn you into an unrecognizable bitter version of yourself especially if you don’t ever process it. It’s accurate that a grieving angry child would project those emotions onto the person closest to her. The safest person is unfortunately usually the one that gets the brunt of a grieving persons disregulated emotions. Which is unfair and wrong. But that the thing about grief. It distorts you into a horrifying version of yourself. That moment made katara so much more real to me. Inspite of her mastering bending and her achievements up to that point she really was a traumatized child pretending to know to be a grown up.

[@LoneSilverW0lf]

My only sorta nitpick in an otherwise great dissertation, Katara never had to lord over Zuko like the others because he wasn’t part of the Gaang until Book 3 when he got over his honor/murder rampage. He was certainly chasing them for two books, and she did have genuine reasons to not take kindly to him when he did finally join, but she never bosses him around like the others. He actually stepped up to help when the others seemed to slack. If Katara was Team Mom then Zuko was Team Dad. Side thought: I still think Toph should’ve gotten her Zuko Field Trip. Maybe with that she wouldn’t have become such a lousy parent.

[@Yingkoos]

excellent point

[@TheNicMMc]

Fandom owes animated Katara an massive apology. Please come back, Boo. We miss you.

[@VeryHuman101]

Nami gets hate? X-X I usually just see people saying they dislike nami’s gag, but I never see anyone dislike her actual character.

[@robinhoodproductions5102]

I saw dudes on twitter say she should get forcefully “married” to a Celestial Dragon bc they hate her so much

[@Ash_Wen-li]

@@robinhoodproductions5102 It's twitter though

[@VeryHuman101]

@@robinhoodproductions5102 Twitter are the same group of people who hate mrbeast. Their opinions are invalid

[@V_i_vi_an]

I never understood the hatred for Katara, this is actually something that I discovered only until I read people on twitter talking about it. While I was watching ATLA when it was airing I always thought Katara was pretty dope, a talented girl that fought to become strong even though she was told to be just a healer because that's the role of women in their culture, and instead oif that she became the most powerful waterbender of her time.

[@czms922]

Nami was a slave, she had to go through the rags no riches. She met the person who was responsible for her being a slave and forgave him. Sakura really liked Sasuke. Had a loving family, and her biggest struggle was not keeping up with Sasuke or Naruto

[@antoniolopes1754]

No character needs to be completely unbeatable, stable or perfect. Nami, for example, has weaknesses and several defects but has incredible qualities that make her indispensable in every arc She supports her teammates and has their support and that makes her complete for me. She needs support but others need her support too.

[@nerdcorner2680]

A lot of western live action media struggles with every making female characters look “ugly”. When they cry it’s just one tear, when they fight it is with a straight face, no deeply disgusting traits for female heroes. They are merely just eye candy and sex appeal and that makes them extremely shallow even when attempting to be deeper. Take Black Widow for example, she’s an assasin but it’s never shown to be disgusting to the audience only ever hot and cool, in any scene where she cries she can’t truly let her emotions flow it has to be so subdued, and even though Hawkeye of an equal strength level has to struggle with the idea that he can’t keep up with Avengers Black Widow will beat up two fodder and expect the audience to be equally as impressed as all the other heroes

[@ethanabdeslam7332]

Listen, Nami is very important to the Straw hat crew and you’re right without her it would be very very different but the things you said about the straw hats, like luffy or usopp is not true. When there’s a serious manner going on, Luffy and usopp will pull up immediately. For their friends. FYI I’d rather choose Luffy to save me than Goku. Goku friends died during combat Crillon, piccolo, Thien and more. so ya W for luffy.

[@Kev_Stars]

Avatar the Last Airbender is a good example of how you write female characters. Avatar tells the story of many complex female characters both good or evil. The show also likes to display their leading ladies as prodigies, innovators, and talented benders.

[@Coffee_nightowl]

Katara is the child that had to become an adult far too early. An unfourtunate role that usually befalls the eldest daughter of the family, she becomes the third parent. Something no child should have to do. I used to dislike Katara as a kid, not at first but because a former friend of mine managed to make all her opinions very convincing. She hated the motherly and assertive girl character. "Katara acts like the mom of the group and bosses them around, that’s so annoying." But then would also hate Korra for having moments of being brutish and childish. There’s literally no winning with misogynists unless the female character fits into a very specific mold. Got flaws? Annoying. Strong but with subtle flaws? Mary Sue. Supportive side character who's nice and subordinate? Either boring or just acceptable. Geez.

[@richmaxmchalliwchester1984]

There are multiple reasons why what Katara said to Sokka shouldn´t be held against her. First of all it´s very clear that Katara was closer to their mom while Sokka was closer to their dad. Katara heard what Sokka said about not really remembering his mom. On top of that Katara had much bigger trauma of losing her mom because most likely she saw dead burned body of her mom, while Sokka didn´t. And she´s also just 14, she´s just a kid. It wasn´t nice from her but i get where she´s coming from.

[@Markus2E5I6]

If my brother tried to make me not get revenge on the person who killed our mum, I would assume he didn't care. Like Sokka should have been the first one to back up Katara in that situation.

[@denzeldubois4978]

@@Markus2E5I6 Right mr i'm going to break into the most highly guarded prison in the fire nation alone to rescue my father shouldn't be saying anything to Katara when she wants to kill the person who killed her mom.

[@Markus2E5I6]

@@denzeldubois4978 exactly sokka was also fine with killing the firelord and leaving Zuko in the cold at the north Pole. He clearly has no problems killing. But killing your mums killer is where you draw the line? I get Aang, he's a spiritual monk and stuck to his beliefs. But Sokka should have stuck with Katara for sheer fact that its his mother's killer. Even if he didn't want to kill him wouldn't you want to at least face him or be there to help your sister face him, he already killed your mum are you really going to let him be with your sister and you not be there to protect her? It seemed very ooc for Sokka for me, even if he didn't agree he would still go to keep Katara safe because this man has already took his mother just like in the painted lady episode where he stayed solely for Katara

[@memebrain2177]

​@@Markus2E5I6sokka is more the logical from the group He was thinking of the reality that katara had to accept

[@memebrain2177]

​@@Markus2E5I6and then what? Encourage his sister to end the killer's life? Continuing the endless cycle of senseless vengeance She might as well target every citizen of the fire nation while there at it

[@grofterzula]

Katara's character was on point. Mom killed, dad off to war, goofy brother. She was a mess. She tried, but her emotions got the better of her. If you ever argued with a woman, especially a woman you love, you would know they say the meanest things JUST to hurt you as much as possible. Katara was a picture perfect example of that. As Nami, she is the party's proverbial rogue in the beginning. Hence the sneaking and stealing. Plus we saw why she had to steal. As for post time skip, I think Oda had to entertain the degenerates so the looks were "upgraded". Also, if other characters had any sense of direction, her role would be obsolete as the navigator. The crew is composed so that every member has important stuff do outside combat and as a DnD player, I can confirm this is actually a good idea. As the power scaling got more serious and Nami started to fall of as a regular human, she took a more logistic role in the crew than a "muscle" one. She is the navigator but she just points the way, Jimbei mans the ships wheel. All in all its a well balanced crew. Not everyone can be a one man army, and that is perfectly fine. Those kind of Mary Sue and I am the best at everything characters are boring and lame.

[@abiade9614]

This is such a satisfying video. THANK YOU. I can’t begin to count how many times I’ve defended Katara online or been disappointed by how many ppl in the fandom dislike or feel indifferent to her. I just never saw that as a justifiable reason, it didn’t make sense. She had so much conviction and passion but people chalked it up as over-emotional and never shutting up about her mum. She was protective and responsible but it was chalked up to annoying? I think people get so caught up in the chaotic nature of Sokka and Aang and even Toph that they fail to see important Katara is sure, but how interesting and complex she is too.

[@Kh79797]

I felt the Katara section man. Like come on if you dislike her it’s fine, but the hypocrisy in reasoning is insane. Bringing up her flaws and character while ignoring everyone else’s much more problematic behaviour, not acknowledging her trauma, etc. It’s like AOT’s Gabi. People give her such a hard time but not at all acknowledging that her response and action makes sense and is the point of the story.

[@Yingkoos]

People don't even blink at Aang after he up and left all the airbenders to get genocided but Katara talks out of turn and their pitchforks are sharp and ready

[@Yingkoos]

and that Gabi point is spot on, I'm never gonna forgive her for Sasha's death but Gabi's action made perfect sense within the AOT and elevated it to another level. We have to give her props there

[@ZNC7612]

​​@@Yingkoos Sorry, what? That isn't a very good comparison, Aang had 0 reasons to believe his actions would lead to genocide (he didn't even know about any war, let alone that he would be trapped in a block of ice to survive a storm). I think Katara hate is dumb and there's certainly a group of people that have bias against her but this type of comparisons don't work in any meaningful way. The same with the one about Soka not loving his mom the same because he doesn't remember her well - not only would Katara remember really well because she was directly involved in part of what would be a very traumatic event (and that makes it so she could never process the grief of her mother's passing properly) but memory of the loved ones doesn't correlate directly with amount of love, If we go by that it would seem like Soka didn't love his mom at all not just less than Katara because his situation is clearly abnormal and caused by a miriad of factors that would make this even longer (to be clear I'm talking about the love thing, I think the other points are perfectly valid). About Katara hate, I think is partly grifters and culture war bros and partly the same type of people that hate Skylar from BB because she "ruins the fun"(those two types are one and the same a lot of times but I've seen cases where its just one of them).

[@Yingkoos]

@@ZNC7612 I’d still have to disagree. The point I was making is that Aang is showed grace by the fans even though he abandoned the air temple and the responsibilities he had to the world whereas people always point out that Katara saying she loved their mom more than Sokka as a big reason for not liking her. Even though Aang’s action was far far more destructive and and way more consequences. My point is they both should be shown grace but Katara is not yes Aang didn’t know the fire nation would attack. But the point was making was that Aan abandoned his air temple and the responsibilities he had to the world at large. Which no matter how well you slice it is several times worse then telling someone you

[@Yingkoos]

@@ZNC7612 and regarding the Sokka point. Trying to use my logic to say Sokka didn’t love his mom doesn’t make any sense. In a typical family structure as Sokka had and with no history of his mom abusing him or being cruel to him it is safe to assume that Sokka would have loved his mom. Hence that’s why I mentioned that in the video however unlike Sokka the show gives ample evidence of Katara loving her mom to the point a full on complication of Katara talking about her mom can be found on KZbin. Furthermore during firebenders attack on the water village Katara first thought was on the well-fare of her mother ( which I showed in the video). Showcasing a deeper relationship between Katara and her mom already existed before that incident. And finally in many of the ways Katara speaks about her mom and Sokka speaks about his dad. Hence if I am only judging the emotional attachments for their parents on the show ( which is the primary source for ATLA) to me at least there is a clear distinction between the 2 siblings

[@maytalacedo20]

Nami's backstory is why she stands out from one piece and Katara is why she is because of her backstory.

[@Yingkoos]

Interesting point

[@VladickHelms]

The only reason I don't like Nami is becuase there are a couple tropes in OP that I find repetitive and boring. One of these is just 'Nami hit straw hat. Straw hat hurt and apologize. Nami scary. Hahaha.' It just isn't funny to me.

[@Yingkoos]

@@VladickHelms but unlike other female characters anime characters, Nami needs to be like that which I explain in the second half of my video

[@VladickHelms]

@@Yingkoos Yeah IK, but it's still annoying

[@memebrain2177]

​@@VladickHelmsit's not that repetitive What's annoying is whe doesn't get the exact same equal treatment when she fucks up

[@jayaniceday3602]

I think you hit the nail on the head with the last lines of this video. It's not that the female character should act in any general way that matters at least for me, but whether those actions make sense and help grow the story rather than destroy it. Just like for male characters, female characters can have unlimited persona. Not all characters have to have good character traits and the flaws may add complexity to the situation. An author may make a female character's love for their mother be very wholesome, or to the point of questionability (mother complex) and so with a single character trait, can go 180 degrees in terms of character value (good trait vs bad). The point is when the story gets broken with how a character is written due to some alternative reason, that people will question that female character. However, this is not specific to female characters but to all characters. Take Luke Skywalker. One of the big issues I have for how he was written in the sequel trilogies(7,8,9) is the characteristic that conflicts with the original trilogy (4,5,6). In the original series, he learns first hand the problems of falling into the dark side of the Force. In so doing, he understood that the only way to save his father was not to defeat him with hate but to save him with love. He understands that even with someone as dark as Vader, there is a chance for redemption, which can only come from love and support of that character. With this understanding of redemption and care, he becomes a Jedi rather than a Sith. So then we get to the sequels and he meets another person who has the qualities of his late father and how does he use his life learned lessons? He tries the kill the dude in his sleep. Wut?????? So, these sort of improper writing of a character, that breaks the very foundation of the entire storyline and lore, are one of the reasons for much of the criticism. Nick Fury's eye being take out by a cat rather than to write a story of betrayal. Mulan not being the wise underdog who overcomes obstacles with wit as the original story was written, but becomes a OP that can do everything. All of these things will of course get criticized by people who follow and love the story. And one of the reason why the FMC is more focused these days than the MCs are the writer's constant desire to make them perfect, and the hate that the writers send to the fans when they criticize and bring this up to light. It was never about where the FMC should be strong since there always have been strong female characters in the past (Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Xena the Warrior Princess, Buffy, Selene of Underworld, La Femme Nikita, etc) but whether the way the characters are portrayed help the story or destroy the story.

[@Yingkoos]

well said

[@denzeldubois4978]

Right like the blind bandit when Toph put the whole gaang in danger of being discovered because she just had to scam. This was during the time when they were in enemy territory and no one could know the Avatar was still alive and Toph is mad at Katara because she rightfully says that they are being irresponsible. Katara was the only reason the Gaang got shit done she was the responsible one because she had to be Aang was a kid, Toph was a kid and Sokka was more immature than both Aang and Toph combined. Prime example was when the gang was stuck in the dessert and Sokka drank cactus juice and was useless the whole episode. Toph couldn't see and Aang was full of anger because Appa had been stolen and who got the Gaang to stick together and stopped them from dying it was Katara. When Katara got Angry at someone it was usually deserved, not always deserved but most of the time. She had a genuine reason not to trust Zuko she did the first time and he betrayed her and this led to Aang nearly dying. Also Sokka mr i'm going to break into the most highly guarded prison in the fire nation alone to rescue my father shouldn't be saying anything to Katara when she wants to kill the person who killed her mom. All the characters have their flaws and yet for some reason only Katara gets hate.

[@erossauro2427]

I disagree immensely with your opinion about Sokka, even though he is immature at times without a doubt, he is a teenager (15 years old) and teenagers make very stupid decisions. Breaking into the Fire Nation prison was an impulsive decision on Sokka's part mainly because he was going alone and barely had a plan.

[@anna2731]

I feel like people really went overboard with how much they critises strong female characters.

[@manawalker000]

"high bozos tendency", i'ma steal that, sorry not sorry

[@Yingkoos]

c'mon wheres my credit

[@arminkir9389]

A perfect example of female mischarecterization is love a women in love immediately makes her bad? Yeah hell no love is a strong motivator no matter how shallow it is for the first and hopefully last time a charecter doesn’t need to have unique motivations to be good nor do they have to be deep either aka mikasa Ackerman in existence she may have shallow motivations but it doesn’t matter her charecters grows due to her love for eren

[@gwgwap]

thank you so much for this video, Nami is a phenomenal character and anyone who disagrees should re-watch Arlong Park

[@Garvant_]

No defense needed for nami if people cant understand that shes a little mean because she was an indentured servant for half her life and has the lives of an entire village on her back than they dont deserve the material

[@VIIB3N]

I LOVE. NAMI-SWWWAAAAAANNNN

[@nikgokuhil]

Man, I agree with them being awesome, but not with the shit that other chars got in the video for sake of it Nami does the things she can and Luffy does the things he can. Nami has her stupid flaws like the rest of the crew. The girl is one of the most capable people in her world and a genius to boot, but her heart is also in the right place and she has fought and defeated people way above her weight class for sake of helping others. Respect with the capital R to her She is the unofficial quartermaster

[@fanaticalistic]

Fun Fact: In the early concept pieces of Steven Universe, the creator got the idea of making the show about a race of female only Aliens(The Gems) in order to make more powerful female leads by defult. I wonder if this technique could work as a writing workshop practice for writers who consistently fail their female leads. Also, great video 👍🏽

[@Yingkoos]

thanks for the comment and possibly

[@ΚρανίΩ]

There's a manga series that consists of strong female characters called claymore apparently its good never read it tho, also alita the manga people say its amazing

[@yoder6162]

At the end, what makes Misa Amane from Death Note a strong female character? And that part about Luffy not saving Ace, that was 100% Ace's stupid ass fault. Also, I wouldn't downplay Luffy's prioritization skills since he's came in clutch multiple times for people in the story without Nami's input, like Wano, Skypiea, and Alabasta. I don't think getting a food break in Impel Down was a bad thing. Everyone else I agree with.

[@Yingkoos]

Trust me bro I gave Ace majority of the blame for his death. I have a full video on it called “ the dawgs of One Piece”

[@orangeslash1667]

The only reason why Misa was made is because the writer wanted a female character. The writer confirmed that Misa not being bright was the point.

[@darkstarplays6315]

It’s not that I don’t like strong female characters, I hate the monotone strong female character. That’s all they are. I also do hate it in males, it shows me a lack of talent in character writing. Yes, show why your characters act the way they do, give them skills and traits outside of their relationship with others of the opposite sex (I do think it’s okay to have characters fall for each other but still be their own person outside of that)

[@audreychayenne4780]

Luffy gets them out of Danger. Nami prevents them from being in Danger

[@Yingkoos]

love this point

[@88rixadzin88]

Setting aside "Help me Luffy" arc (even though it is one of my favorites) I don't get how anyone can hate on Nami. Imo she is the 2nd most important Crew Member (after Luffy). She is a "coward" like Usopp, but she also understands it and is willing to upgrade (by somehow blackmailing Usopp). I don't know how far you have gotten so I will end it there as I don't wanna spoil you.

[@erikdietz1991]

thank you for this epic vedio :D really love Katara her character and story. she was a main character as Aang and Zuko are.

[@Yingkoos]

facts

[@ether2275]

I'm sorry but WHO TF is complaining about Nami and Katara? I haven't seen anyone hating them. Korra maybe but Katara never. And Nami? FR?

[@ThePrincessCH]

There's a short called "Is Katara a bad sister?" Some of the comments are pretty intense.

[@SenatiaA]

I love Katara and Nami. But from the ATLA, I am disturbed by Aang. Katara had to step up and be a leader who got trapped by Aang. I can’t stand him.

[@ytprv1890]

He’s twelve, not a big deal.

[@tabsi2436]

Wow, good video! I have to say, there is nothing more sexy than a man defending my girls. Katara is wonderful. And Nami is my Queen, always. ❤

[@Yingkoos]

Y'all got me blushing and shiiiiii, but thank you

[@danielsurvivor1372]

1:42 WHO HATES KATARA DAWG? Ain't no way, I don't think I ever heard Katara get any slack except maybe that swamp queen episode. Idk it's just, Katara was written diff, almost no female characters were written that way outside of Avatar and ngl, I'd love more female characters like that but alas we either get one end of extreme where they're boring eye candy or another extreme where they're obnoxious op Mary Sue far too often and we don't get enough Katara or Toph or Azula like characters 😢

[@giogio7810]

the thing is oda wrote a character with a story relevance flaws and personality sakura is written as literally none of that and like only flaws or fanservice like wtf you have write a character and not fanservice and it's sad that in so many shonen anime the female characters get chalked up to that :(

[@taserman17]

Katara is one of the best characters in Avatar i liked her character very well written young girl

[@swagtachiuchiha1501]

Katara was the emotional beacon that held the entire group together as well as multiple instances where she straight up saved their lifes. Also stuff like saving the Painted Lady village when Sokka was ready to skip ahead for his schedule. Katara is a certified badass

[@UeyeYeye-vn7tq]

hey bro this was fantastic you deserve more subs. as a girl i love the representation you gave us women 👍

[@alexmeid8111]

so who dared to offend my favorite female characters Nami and Katara come out in a crowd I'm from Russia and I have a bear Vasya

[@Alister222222]

My own take is that modern femenism has had some unintended and unhealthy consequences, and IMO Nami is a pretty clear example of this. Women, and to some extent men, seem to have internalized this belief that women are only being 'assertive' in a virtuous way, when really they're being abusive or mean. What is not acceptable for a man to do, such as yell at people, put others down, or even hit people, is considered 'kind of normal' or just standing up for themselves, for a woman. Alanis Morisette's song 'I'm a Bitch' basically embodies this - casting 'being a bitch' as being actually virtuous. Nami, for me, embodies this cultural overshoot. She lashes out for any and every reason, both verbally and physically, and if a male was doing this we'd call him an absolute dick. Compare Zoro and Sanji, who argue fight all the time, but rarely hit each other. They can't, because they're men, so if they were hitting each other they'd be dicks committing assault. For some reason, when Nami does it, it's either supposed to be funny, or just showing off her 'sassy assertiveness'. 'Being a bitch' is a failing, not a virtue. It shouldn't be normalized, and shouldn't be considered virtuous behaviour in men or women.

[@4ndre21]

finally someone said it!!! thank you

[@gwgwap]

well no because zoro and sanji lash out as many times as Nami does, it's literally the comedic gag of the show.

[@elizander5902]

I don’t think katara loves her mom more than sokka, katara was pretty much propelled by ideals alone, where as sokka always tried to stay with the big picture. Sokka very much understood that the weight they carried on their shoulders was the weight of the world, the very balance of nature would be decided by their actions, and so he helped heard the team towards the right direction, and put his all into it. Katara was much more of an emotional character, and her emotions and ideals are what drove her actions. To say that sokka didn’t love his mom as much as she did isn’t really fair. As someone who was driven by logic over all else, he put everything he had into the mission, personal feelings be damned. I think sokka forgetting his mothers face was not the fault of a lack of love, but more so because he was always focused on the present and future, where as katara was always thinking about the past

[@rinarina6247]

This is a good video I like it a lot I hope you have more in store :)

[@Yingkoos]

Yeah I have a couple already out I hope you enjoy them

[@jemilanenestj2522]

Well we had three characters that can kill Thanos in Endgame Thor, Wanda and Captain Marval but only Captain Marval gets the hate that says everything we need to know 😂😂😂.

[@SansINess53]

btw usopp is a scaredy cat yes but what do you expect him to do? most of his fights required him to behave like it, because if he behaved like zoro or luffy he would be fucked in a battle so for what I want to say. usopp lies but at least not to the level of doflamingo or someone insane. watch melonteee she discusses every strawhat without biase.

[@morganmorgym]

Ngl, it hurt my soul to see you compare Nami & Sakura

[@blizyon30fps86]

One thing i see from Nami haters is that they also hate Sakura and say they hate Nami for the same reasons, but that just screams they haven’t watched the show lol.

[@looseGoose878]

bottom line, women can be soft feminine, or strong female, with flaws, without flaws etc etc. But you have to write them into the story. If they're just a prop for other characters to look good (seen SOOO many times in shounen), then they aren't going to be good at all.

[@Yingkoos]

perfect

[@plasticsoya]

i have never heard anyone hate on Nami in such a fashion

[@Packirup1234]

not even 400 subs yet and ur dropping heat im baffled

[@Yingkoos]

really appreciate it big boss

[@MangoMann072]

If y'all want good female characters read/watch shojo/josei

[@thepencilneedsclip]

THANK YOU SO MUCH my friends said the katara was the worst character in avatar the last airbender AND NAMI which i was FURIOUS until i showed them this video they Finnally understood TYSM FOR MAKING THIS SOMEONE WHO GETS IT I will leave this comment here so i can watch this again :D

[@Yingkoos]

Really appreciate you sharing the video

[@heyarnold7256]

Wow you just gonna spoil Marineford like that? wild bro.

[@Yingkoos]

My bad, boss 😢

[@IsabellaMathew]

Exactly the difference between bad writing and good writing. Is one is attentional, and the other is not.

[@SimonDoer]

one thing I'd like to add about that katara scene, is that within the episode, she was more or less the villain. The moral of that episode was 'don't seek revenge' afterall. So her snapping at sokka was supposed to come off as needlessly rude and hurtful. The audience needed a reason to root against her.

[@lukameklav554]

Wjhile i do agree Nami is very important to the crewits not only her. The straw hats pirates work beacuse they rely on eachother and cover eachother shortcomings, they are all essential to make their goals a reality.

[@I-likestarz]

I didn’t even know people hated katara- She’s arguably my favourite character (tied between her and toph) because she was forced to care for everyone despite the fact that she didn’t really want to.The one thing i don’t like about her is how she mentions the attack on the southern water tribe and her mothers death at really random times.But i don’t even care about it that much.

[@lore766]

So for kataras first thing I'd say is still OK to dislike her for it. Yes she's 14 but in avatar there is (from what I remember don't flame if I'm wrong from portrayal lol) the on going war and it has children be forced to grow up way faster than normal and generally she's more responsible than anyone else in the group so imo that excuse doesn't do it for me (big surprise tho... I dont hate her entirely just bc one moment crazy concept I know😅)

[@aureliacortez3625]

Don’t bring luffy down to bring Nami up learn manners rude guy!

[@reubenpx1809]

Bruh we literally believe Nami's got conqueror's haki.... She dont need any defense... All her hits on every crew member just works.

[@flusel4949]

Wonderful video! You just earned a sub!

[@Yingkoos]

Thank you really appreciate it

[@memebrain2177]

Even e;r made a shorter analysis explaining what made katara good in her own right

[@seandoes6979]

I think it boils down to either 2 thing: just plain misogyny, Some people(men) mainly just want an action packed series filled with over powered men with the occasional female character that is either the two dimensional love interest with big boobs or a female commander/ unspecified high ranking title(with big boobs) that serves no real purpose to the story. Or it's a genuinely bad written female character or even over used female character tropes such as "constantly angry and hitting the MC" or over powered for no reason and doesn't need a man to help her with things or a painful self insert character for one of the female writers

[@Yingkoos]

I get you, I just wish all movies/series had characters competently playing their role in the story. Because an attractive female commander can be the bones of a good character. But you and I know she'll just be used to show how the male protagonist is so cool and strong because he made the female commander fall in love with him after not shitting the bed this one time

[@undefinederror40404]

No, I did not know people hate Katara, and you have just blown my mind by telling me! crazy, the lot of them. Katara is literally the best female character I've ever seen in any show. ATLA gave all their characters strengths, flaws, and actual character development through the show. No way anyone pulling up hating on her.

[@inesatt1313]

ATLA wins no contest and so is Arcane

[@mastername5373]

Nami is a good character but is not a good example for this since she is part of 'Weakling Trio' and people talking about 'Strong Female Character' are usually talking about female characters with great power.

[@christianrojas7353]

I feel like people mistake ‘bad characters’ and ‘characters who do bad things’ way more often then they should. Protagonists can and oftentimes should do awful things because in elicits room for growth for their story. Katara absolutely isn’t justified for saying such an awful thing to Sokka but it doesn’t mean she is any less well written.

[@Lycanthewolf7715]

Whaaaat why katara is best girl and nami even thuogh i sont watch one piece looks like a great person but these guys that give hate for absolutely no reason than those reasons bro keep the hate to yourself

[@astridwikstrom9295]

katara is my favorite character. period.

[@topMonger]

Katara is goatedddd

[@marselluswallace2175]

Facts !

[@oukeijihaa5888]

i did not someone just justify katara speak about their dead mother like that to sokka💀even if what she said would be true it's fucked up

[@marselluswallace2175]

So many characters in the show did or said fucked up things to each other but Katara gets more shit for some reason.

[@yo-kaikid1925]

exactly like “oh well its not that bad because she did love her more”. bro what are you on about and saying its okay because she is 14 also isn’t that good of an excuse either. yes she is a kid but you cant use that to justify everything that makes her unlikable.

[@barrytooth4306]

The reason Sakura is hated is because she is acting like the boss while being mostly useless and loves a terrorist over the guy who saved her life multiple times. The reason Nami acts like this is because she has to deal with Luffy, the straw hats would have not made it this far without her. The reason she acts like this towards luffy is because he might kill his crew on accident because of some stupid shit

[@mastername5373]

Nami is a good character but I don't think she is a good example for this when she is in the 'Weak Trio', since when people talk about 'Strong Female Character' they are usually talking about female characters with great power.

[@poomipatlurkudom3883]

Nami is strong now, when she got Zeus

[@rancor_raptor]

@@poomipatlurkudom3883 She also took down that one lady in Arabasta.

[@poomipatlurkudom3883]

@@rancor_raptor Dont forget Kalifa. Even before she got Zeus she was strong but she didn't fight if it was not needed

[@rancor_raptor]

@@poomipatlurkudom3883 To be fair, most of the strawhats didn't fight if not needed.

[@JAI_SHREE_RAM12337]

Next up How strong female characters go ahegao in hentai

[@Elias4funnn]

Nah team avatar besides katara have BOZO TENDENCIES

[@Yingkoos]

Just came from the heart

[@SarevokRegor]

I like Katara. However I would have to admit Katara is sometimes a massive beetch. However the story does not bend over itself to portray her in the right.There's multiple occasions where she expresses remorse, is told to calm down and is even mocked. I can't say that there's no misogyny anywhere but in general I don't see it in most popular reviews, and I don't see how you could test that without deep faking Rey into being a man and finding a bunch of people who never watched star wars.

[@sia5926]

Bro luffy looked for food to regain his energy so he could be at his fullest to save Ace. Shut up. And he never purposely stuck in such situations. He literally came to save Robin and was hit by Lucci. That's why ge was stuck not because he was enjoying himself. What is wrong with you

[@BraveryWing26]

I know this video isnt about him BUT WHERE IS JINBE!? Fishman Island had Nami at her ABSOLUTE BEST when she forgave him for enabling Arlong. Its just such a beautiful scene and its Nami at her best. Her character arc where she went from loathing Arlong's men and then learning why they were like and AND THEN come face to face with the guy responsible and FORGIVES HIM?

[@wkeezz]

Just throwing this out in the void. I love shows like cowboy bebop. The characters know what and who they are without being obnoxious about it. They aren’t extreme where they ruin the reality of their universe. We can look at the MCU as the worlds greatest example of this. We see black widow, a human, knows that she is a human and can only do so much. But when she pushes her limit just alittle further, we cheer for it. While captain marvel is boring. The movie treat her like, “oh yeah she can be thanos whenever she wants, but she doesn’t want to yet.” I think that modern Hollywood writers want to say “look how oppress women are without she hulk.” “She hulk is the symbol of all women.” It creates a standard that no one wanted to be compared to and that no one can reach either. You see it in religion. It is no different here.

[@KinomotoAkito]

something that's always bothered me why is Kirito allowed to *just* suck while Rey or Captain Marvel *also* have to be the result of feminist agenda?

[@Sanjiluv]

Women and girls on average consume different media. A "strong female" written by a man (and written well mind you) varies GREATLY from a "strong female" written by a man. And that's entirely fine, and it should be that way. We should have variety and the chance at borrowing ideas. Male-written "Strong female character": Gives the best of what men want to see out of the women in their life. Women-written "Strong female character": Gives the best of what women want to see out of the women in their life. That's the biggest difference.

[@ZanderDaG]

Another Bangerrrrrrrrrrr

[@Yingkoos]

Appreciate it bro and your Saltburn video goes crazy

[@SiNN13]

The only issue I have with Katara is that she'll believe anyone over her own team mates and then try to overcompensate by being extra mean when her trust is broken. She did it with Jet and she did it with Zuko. She's always placing her potential love interest first.

[@san6984]

she never did that with zuko, she simply tried to extend grace and compassion towards him cause she thought he'd become a better person. jet was the only time where she "believed" someone before sokka and aang, idk why you making it seem like its a habit of hers throughout the series when it happens a total time of once

[@ytprv1890]

Jinbe is a clutch strawhat.