Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-13524376-20130727013712/@comment-4830106-20130727192734

BenRG wrote: It's just a feature of animé art - most characters have pale European complexions. Avatar didn't. Look at all the water tribe characters.

Although technically, Avatar drew upon a lot of sources that were not typically found in anime. If anything, its more chinese than Japanese, and the Southern Water Tribe is based off Inuit culture. So, it doesn't really count.