You needn't be. Simplicity and power can draw their own respect and admiration, when displayed with sufficient skill. While anyone can be accentuated, some need the assistance more than others to draw the eye. But you appeal even to a man who prizes flashiness as much as Genesis, which should tell you everything you need to know.

[Kuja is flattering Angeal here, but he feels the man deserves it. More than that, flattery doesn't inherently mean saying anything untrue. Rather, one could call it...expressing oneself with an agenda.]

As for whether or not flattery is the same as stating the obvious...it can be, certainly. [Kuja's tail curves, flicking it in such a way that the long, waving fins move back and forth in front of his chest. The effect is similar to watching a noblewoman flutter a colorful fan. Kuja seems to have not only mastered control of his tail; he seems to have already grasped how to work it into his desired aesthetic and presentation.] Flattery isn't in the actual words or the meaning of them, you realize, so much as the...intent. What separates compliments from flattery is ulterior motive. And as for what motive you might have...only you could say.