>>87560755>when has Aku ever attempted to get somebody to love himThat was the entire plot of the episode.
Let me break it down for you:
>"For eons, I have terrorized this land. Every miserable creature trembled at the mere mention of my name. The pitiful people shrank before my awesome power. But now...I am openly mocked by these measly urchins. Tales of the samurai's heroics have spread through the world like a virus; but I will cure the world of this plague of hope. I will unleash such evil, that even the most innocent soul will be consumed by terror!"At first, Aku entertains the idea of being incomprehensibly evil to the point of destroying any and all hope people have of seeing him defeated. Then he stops.
>"Insolent brats! Their elders still fear and respect the immortal Aku, but this new generation...the seed of rebellion has been planted in them by these tales of heroism."Their parents ALREADY FEAR AKU. They know what Aku is capable of. The children are still naive and ignorant of his wrath, only having vague ideas of what Aku actually does that's so evil.
Aku has become such a presence in their lives that they're used to him and don't see him as a threat; he's "just always been there".
Aku realizes this. He understands that these children aren't afraid of him, and wants to take advantage of that.
>"Well, if they respond to stories, I have a tale or two that will turn AKU into the hero of their young hearts!"Think about what Aku does, from the very first episode; he has people constructing statues of him. In his future, everything is modeled after him. He forces people to see him, to accept him, to love him; if they don't, they're killed. He's ruled by fear for thousands of years and suddenly Jack shows up and starts breaking that down. Aku needs people to support him genuinely, so that he can use them against Jack. They're more useful as potential advocates than potential rebels. And I doubt he'd complain about positive attention.
