In OP’s defense, I think they expressed their point inelegantly but I do see the issue.
Azula in the original show was deeply insecure. She was obsessed with perfect performance because a single fumble could mean the loss of Ozai’s favor. Could mean being the new Zuko. Hence her desperate “you can’t treat me like Zuko!”
Something the novelization told us even more overtly:
But all of these things are supposed to be reveals for a reason. For as much as she’s introduced as a ruthless perfectionist who can’t handle a single hair out of place, it isn’t initially framed as sympathetic. It’s instead cleverly framed in a way that makes her come off like a terrifying opponent.
For most of Book 2, Azula seems confident and practically unflappable. She challenges our heroes (and Zuko) in a way that even puts Zhao to shame. She’s more clever. More skilled. More competent. And this culminates in her conquering Ba Sing Se and downing Aang while in the Avatar State!
There’s a reason they don’t start showing us the cracks, her yearning, her struggles, her masked trauma and fear of vulnerability, until Book 3. Because for Book 2 she needs to be scary. She needs to be a force to be reckoned with. Zuko is already taking up the role of anti hero/grey antagonist. His time to be the villain was in Book 1.
The frustrating thing is that NATLA not only didn’t understand this and removed all dramatic tension and mystery, but by forcing both Azula and Zuko to share the sympathetic antagonist role simultaneously from the beginning, they were forced to soften Zuko considerably in order to differentiate him from Azula.
So we get a Zuko that isn’t nearly as angry. A Zuko that would NEVER burn down Kyoshi village. A Zuko that lets an Omashu woman smack him around and retreats helplessly rather than knocking her aside carelessly. He is a hero of men. He saved the entire 41st. He’s the goodest boy and never did anything wrong.
But what does that leave Azula? They’ve taken away her intrigue, her mystique, her intimidation factor. They played their hand too early so we know from the start that she’s just a desperate pawn in Ozai’s game. So how does the show make her scarier than Zuko in this scenario?
By making her into animated Zuko.
Rather than Azula having her own interesting and complex way of navigating the world and masking her trauma, instead of her hiding her vulnerabilities and repressing her doubts and self hatred until she can no longer take it and cracks under the pressure of her father’s impossible expectations and the crushing solitude of being abandoned, she’s now…
And CONSTANTLY complains about her sibling.
And it’s incredibly frustrating to see the controlled, calculated, brilliant girl who hid her fear and desperation to be loved behind a smirk and ruthless efficiency be turned into her angry brother who lashes out and trauma dumps at everyone around him.
So while I appreciate that the live action at least acknowledges that Azula was abused, I also am frustrated that they fell right into terrible fandom tropes of making Zuko a Boy Scout and Azula a raging, uncontrolled ball of rage who lives in her sibling’s shadow.
