They wanted to cancel the manga because they felt there were too many deaths for a shonen manga, around the Sasuke mission where Choji, Neji, and Kiba were apparently killed-in-action.
That was the last straw for those who disliked the idea of an extremely dark shonen manga being the mascot of Shonen Jump. So Kishimoto decided to give in and bring Lee back, as well as pull a new medical ninjutsu technique out of Tsunade's ass to heal Naruto's fallen allies.
Already the story had taken a huge diversion. Honestly it was smart of Kishimoto to have tied the knot of those character's storylines in a tragic and conclusive way. Not only did it prevent the DBZ effect where old characters were merely sidelined as the main characters took on even stronger and more overpowered enemies, but it highlighted many of the themes that some believed were lost in Shippuden like the fragility of human life, the unforgiving cutthroat nature of the shinobi world, and the price Konoha was paying to bring back Sasuke. There deaths would have given more reality to Naruto's relentless pursuit of Sasuke vowing that their sacrifices would not be in vain, and the complicated moral implications Sasuke would face when weighing the worth of his own life against his former comrades.
Gaara's death was next and if he wouldn't have been revived through such a contrived method it would have established Shippuden as a continuation of the dark themes of loss and hardship expressed in Part 1, and most importantly the irreversibility of death. While Gaara would have to be replaced, he could have appeared later as an edo tensei and triggered some emotionally powerful scenes during he war arc.
Continuing in this fashion citizens of Konoha would not have been resurrected, setting a dark tone for the war arc. Kakashi continue to live however, his time was not then. With the members of the initial Konoha 11 now dwindling, tension for who might die during the war arc would be even higher. Instead of Neji dying, which he already has, Shikimaru or Kakashi or someone else could die instead. The Kage's would perish at the hands of Madara with the exception of Tsunade who barely manages to save herself using the slugs. The other Kagss would be beyond repair by the time she had revived herself.
Personally I think a high death toll would make the drama in Naruto feel more potent and realistic. Without constant death you lose a sense of tension because you feel the characters are too safe, and that makes things seem a bit dull, like many people's opinion of the Kaguya fight.
That was the last straw for those who disliked the idea of an extremely dark shonen manga being the mascot of Shonen Jump. So Kishimoto decided to give in and bring Lee back, as well as pull a new medical ninjutsu technique out of Tsunade's ass to heal Naruto's fallen allies.
Already the story had taken a huge diversion. Honestly it was smart of Kishimoto to have tied the knot of those character's storylines in a tragic and conclusive way. Not only did it prevent the DBZ effect where old characters were merely sidelined as the main characters took on even stronger and more overpowered enemies, but it highlighted many of the themes that some believed were lost in Shippuden like the fragility of human life, the unforgiving cutthroat nature of the shinobi world, and the price Konoha was paying to bring back Sasuke. There deaths would have given more reality to Naruto's relentless pursuit of Sasuke vowing that their sacrifices would not be in vain, and the complicated moral implications Sasuke would face when weighing the worth of his own life against his former comrades.
Gaara's death was next and if he wouldn't have been revived through such a contrived method it would have established Shippuden as a continuation of the dark themes of loss and hardship expressed in Part 1, and most importantly the irreversibility of death. While Gaara would have to be replaced, he could have appeared later as an edo tensei and triggered some emotionally powerful scenes during he war arc.
Continuing in this fashion citizens of Konoha would not have been resurrected, setting a dark tone for the war arc. Kakashi continue to live however, his time was not then. With the members of the initial Konoha 11 now dwindling, tension for who might die during the war arc would be even higher. Instead of Neji dying, which he already has, Shikimaru or Kakashi or someone else could die instead. The Kage's would perish at the hands of Madara with the exception of Tsunade who barely manages to save herself using the slugs. The other Kagss would be beyond repair by the time she had revived herself.
Personally I think a high death toll would make the drama in Naruto feel more potent and realistic. Without constant death you lose a sense of tension because you feel the characters are too safe, and that makes things seem a bit dull, like many people's opinion of the Kaguya fight.
