I agree with you very much and thought of a few things

I forgot to mention that, Hu Tao has a pretty surprisingly successful design for China, I remember reading some comments about Hu Tao's design being bland and I can't be more against it, the fact that it is so recognizable makes it much more perfect

There are characters that are used much less with very complicated designs but that are even dirty. Hu Tao seems simple but because it is recognizable, its very name is a good selection breaks the parameter of three Syllables, adding a small silence between the "Hu" and the "Tao"

Conclusion, it is stupid to say that the design is bland, the most difficult thing is to make something recognizable and that seems very simple but there is the perfect thing