Yeah Kovu isn't the biggest fan of his cubs. All four of them have some aspect of their looks that reminds him of worse times in his past. Pair that with the way he was raised in the Outlands, you got yourself someone who's not exactly gentle and affectionate in his lessons. Both Kuamua and Kovu are glad Kiara does all the royal teaching for her, it would only escalate if the two had to spend that much time together.

Yet that is also the reason why they're drifting apart more and more as the cubs grow. They get closer to Simba, to Nala, to the rest of the pride. But they all start carrying a sense of resentment towards their parents. Resentment towards Kovu, who didn't mask his disdain when others werent around, especially when it came to Mkuu, who had a similar fur color to Zira. Resentment towards Kiara, who either didn't notice it happening, or didn't think it to be too bad. Either way the cubs end up blaming their parents, one more, one less, without actively wanting to.

That kinda drifted a bit from what I planned to write here, but the gist of it is that what's depicted in the pic is one of the instances where Kuamua sought conversation with her father, only for it to end with another rather harsh piece of advice. Kovu does think he isn't doing too bad, but at the same time he hates that his cubs cause him to say the same things to them as his mother did him. But he turned out fine, so they will too, right?