I can understand that. Chouji's death would only work as I prescribed (at least for everybody) if his character was shown, both physically present and psychologically deep, enough to be a compelling character that makes an audience *wish* he were still alive.

But as we all know, a lot of characterization happens in flashbacks, so maybe we get the compelling side after Chouji's death through Shikamaru i.e. "Why is Shika so devastated from Chouji's death beyond what is normal...oh..."