I completely agree with all the disappointment and outrage over the leaked Sumeru characters being so pale, especially Kusanali. That is absolutely justified.

However, I can't really get behind all the discourse about Kusanali being a child. I do get the general aversion anything loli adjacent, but I think people are overlooking the interesting narrative and thematic implications of the god of wisdom being a child. She is supposed to be the youngest archon, so it makes sense in that regard. Sumeru will also be the first nation to really touch on the impact of having different archons (since Makoto and Ei were twins, I'm pretty sure most of Inazuma has no idea they've had a different archon since Khaenr'iah fell). We already know that they call her "Lesser Lord Kusanali," so it's hard to believe there isn't some kind of inferiority complex going on there. And if all archons can change their shape as they want, maybe the reason Kusanali is still a child is because she was a child when she became archon. The people may have infantalized her to the point where she just accepts it. There's also a common theme about children being considered more wise than adults because they haven't developed any internal biases yet. The story could take this in so many different directions. For all we know, she could be the previous archon's daughter. I like the narrative possibilities this could inspire.

She does need a serious melanin infusion, at the very least.

EDIT: I've seen a lot of people online explaining how Nahida might be inspired by the Hindu goddess of wisdom Saraswati (also known as Anahita in Persian mythology), who was usually described as pale and dressed in white (sometimes as white as the moon, which directly relates to how she describes herself as the moon in the Sumeru Promotional Video). So while we still desperately need more representation in Genshin, there does seem to be some mythological precedent for her.

EDIT 2: I am fully aware that Saraswati isn't depicted in art as pure, printer paper white like Nahida is in game. Saraswati is also associated with a lot more color and iconography than Nahida has shown. I only mentioned Saraswati as an example of what cultural and mythological figures hyv might be drawing from. I'm not an expert in any sort of SWANA religions or mythologies and never claimed to be one. I'm an internet nerd who just wanted to share different perspectives on a controversial character.