And I get why because he was the character that introduced you into Dragon Ball and all, but I mean come on. This reminds me of when people got pissed at the fact their shipping of Katara and Zuko didn't end up as couple, or Naruto and Sakura didn't end up as a couple. There is a video on YouTube somewhere that explains how fans, in a way, ruin a series/franchise.
People got mad about Naruto and Sakura? News to me, I don't think I ever even encountered a Naruto fan who even liked Sakura, lol. I remember Kishimoto even saying that he didn't bother to put Sakura's parents in the manga because he was aware how many people didn't like her.
I was familiar with most of those to begin with, but I'm definitely glad for all his editors changes. Trying to imagine the Android saga where the big bads are legitimately 19 & 20 then we just move on to Buu is scary thought experiment. I didn't hear about them letting him make Gohan the main character, but it's nice to hear there was no real pushback from them.
Which does lead us to the topic of Gohan losing his main character status due to fan outcry. It's definitely a plausible, all Toriyama ever said on the matter as far as I know is that he realized Gohan was not suited for the role of main character. So it could've been something he thought instead of a reaction to fan outcry but even if it is the latter, I'm hesitant to place the blame solely on fanboys. Like, if you look at the
popularity polls, Gohan was the most popular character near the end of the Cell Games. There may have been a straight rejection moreso just because Goku was out of the story, but Gohan goes Great Saiyaman three weeks into his tenure of main character, the rejection might've just been because fans didn't like the goofy direction he took Gohan in. I know a lot would complain on principle alone, but Toriyama's handling of Gohan had to exacerbate it, especially considering Gohan was more popular than Goku.
I've long since accepted how the Buu Saga turned out, and I love how that arc finishes up so I wouldn't really want to alter that but Gohan definitely should've been treated better throughout the story. He doesn't really do much in the Buu Saga. He shows up, gets one bad-ass line, beats up Buu for like one chapter, then Buu powers up through absorption and beats up Gohan, then Gohan is used to make Buu stronger. That's all he does, which is disappointing both considering how great his story arc is from Raditz to Cell, and how much they built up Mystic Gohan in the arc itself. Goku could've and should still serve a prominent role in the Buu arc, but that didn't have to come at the expense of Gohan and unfortunately it did.