How is Ash still 10 years old?

He's been to 5 different regions, and he's STILL 10 years old? He should at least be 15-16 by now!

Because the writers don't give him nor the rest of the cast continuation so he is stuck as 10. And if we are going by years he should be in his 20s. Same thing applies to other animated shows i.e. animated sit coms such as Simpsons and Family Guy where the characters don't age.

I wish they would have aged him a bit. I think aging him when the new Pokemon company came in for the shows and changed a lot of the voices would have helped people accept the change easier. Like Ashs voice changed because thats what happens when boys get older.

Kenshin5 said:

Because the writers don't give him nor the rest of the cast continuation so he is stuck as 10. And if we are going by years he should be in his 20s. Same thing applies to other animated shows i.e. animated sit coms such as Simpsons and Family Guy where the characters don't age.

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Kenshin is right, they made Ash still 10 so the younger audience watching the anime would get to know his personality better.

That is also why they "reset" his team every time he goes to a new region.

And judging by this, I know that Ash will never be retired as a main character. They change a few of his companions here and there, but Ash will always be there.

Pokemon Master Derrville said:

I wish they would have aged him a bit. I think aging him when the new Pokemon company came in for the shows and changed a lot of the voices would have helped people accept the change easier. Like Ashs voice changed because thats what happens when boys get older.

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The reason that made you think Ash is older is because his VA changed in Season 9 (Pokemon: Battle Frontier). This was a result of 4Kids not deciding to renew its license for the Pokemon anime after the conclusion of Season 8 (Pokemon: Advanced Battle) and as a result most of the voice cast in the English dub were replaced. However, several 4Kids VAs returned from Season 11 (Pokemon DP: Battle Dimension) onwards. Veronica Taylor voiced Ash from Season 1 (Pokemon: Indigo League) up until Advanced Battle. When Battle Frontier began she was replaced by Sarah Natochenny, who still currently voices Ash.

At the end of the Pikachu and Pichu adventures, Ash threw a party because it was a year ago, on that date, he met Pikachu. Yet he is still 10. Just saying haha

Imagine he is Timmy Turner from "Fairly Oddparents" who wished they were 10 years old forever. Enough trolling.

Well, you wouldn't want Ash with facial hair, deep voice and having a certain body weight, am I right? Duh, that's going to look.. ugh.

I've stated this over and over before, but...

Characters on animated shows generally don't age, especially on Pokémon. Besides, if Ash aged throughout the series' run, he probably would be around 20 or older, and it might turn away younger fans who are just starting to watch the show. (This also explains why his skills are 'reset' and he is so weak at battles every time he goes to a new region.) Same reason why Arthur (from the character's self-titled show) is always in 3rd Grade, and Pepper Ann was always in 7th Grade at Hazelnut Middle School. If they had the characters in Pokémon age, then the show's ratings would probably decline severely and eventually be canceled.

Has anyone else noticed that Ash has actually gotten a little bit smaller in the new episodes?

Its not only ash! :DDD theres sooo many other characters that are like way older than their age too!! oAo

chiefsfan212006 said:

At the end of the Pikachu and Pichu adventures, Ash threw a party because it was a year ago, on that date, he met Pikachu. Yet he is still 10. Just saying haha

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That was just what's called a "Pikachu short" and they don't really tie in with the actually story of the anime. I wouldn't consider those shorts canon, but sort like Pokemon Chronicles, which are just side-stories.


And to answer the topic, Ash doesn't age in my opinion cause each series is sort of a reset of the previous one(Black and White especially). He gets new partners, and new Pokemon. His age also appeals to the target audience, which is usually children age 5 to about 13. It also goes along with the theme in most cartoon where characters never age.For example, Bart Simpson will always be 10 and in 4th grade; Lisa will always be 8 and in 2nd grade. Just like Ash, they stay this age cause it has a familiarity with the audience.

I like to believe the theory where people think Ash is actually a robot/cyborg, of some kind. It is the underlying reason his mom doesn't care what happens to him, as long as he's having fun, or dying. It is also the reason the only Pokemon left in Professor Oak's lab was a Pikachu, actually a planned situation where Pikachu would shock him to give him power. It is also the reason he is never in his pokeball.

gunnerpow7 said:

For my opinion, they should at least make a spin-off where in the characters age, fall in love, etc... If there was a spin-off like that, they would appeal to older audiences more and the Pokemon Company makes more money. Normal Physics gets thrown out the window and Anime Physics replace it.... I hate Anime Physics... =/

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I've been dreaming this for months! I love the idea of making pokemon anime appeal to older audiences. If they had any common sense they would know adults are the people with the money in their pocket.

Pokemon became wildly popular in the 90's because kids (liek me) pestered their parents to buy them everything pokemon. Pokemon games! Pokemon cards! Pokemon backpack! Pokemon bedsheets! Pokemon toys! Most of the revenue (in my opinion) came from products other than the televison show.

The problem for making a pokemon anime for teenagers or older audiences is the market. The "kid market" is bigger than the "Anime Fanbase market". Not every kid is an anime fan, but every kid sure as hell loves cartoons. Most kids don't even know what "Japanese Anime"is. I don't think there are enough people who generally like Anime. Anime is still considered "underground" animation here in the United States. Meanwhile Disney is trying to play around with the idea of Japanese Animation. They have enough money to risk losing.

Basic marketing strategy my friends! You get the kids to fall in love with a product, you can be asured that mommy and daddy will buy them that product until they get bored of it. I think the TPCi (The Pokemon Company International) still aims to kids because that's were pokemon made all there success in the first place; and that's were all the money flows in.

In my specualtion the only Animes in the U.S that have been successful in bringing in non-anime fans were Dragon Ball and Pokemon. I don't know if Pokemon for an older audience will bring in more money than the kid audience. It is a huge change in market. You lose the kid market and gain the adult market. But will it be enough to surpass the "kid market revenue" or make less than the kid market. That is a huge risk that could bankrupt the company and pokemon franchise! That's why they don't do it. Basic underline.

Basically they are keeping it a Kids Show. Could you Imagine ASH as a Teenager Chasing Girls

Hikari10
That isn't entirely true because they did a kanto series and it wasn't Ash as the main character it was Ethan

chiefsfan212006 said:

At the end of the Pikachu and Pichu adventures, Ash threw a party because it was a year ago, on that date, he met Pikachu. Yet he is still 10. Just saying haha

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Not to mention in Gathering a gang of four in the Battle Frontier season
he said "It's been years since I've started my journey" or something in that effect

I don't mind that he doesn't age, I just wish that he didn't suffer some form of memory loss between Sinnoh and Unova that made him forget even the basics of Pokemon that he had learned throughout the past four regions, and I really wish he would come back at a Trip or Iris insult by saying "Look, I beat the Battle Frontier and finished in the top 4 in the Sinnoh league, what have you done?" Having said that, I wish he would act like he's done those things

I remember the short from Movie 3, where Ash celebrates the anniversary of meeting Pikachu one year prior. Something else that happened that day was Ash turning 10 years old, meaning he'd be 11 by the time he finished Johto. Timeskip to the first episode of Black and White where the narrator calls him a 10 year old.

OMGWTFPARADOX!!!

If I had to guess, I'd say that they're keeping Ash young to help him relate to the young audience that they're targeting in the first place. And with the new generation of kids, who probably never heard of Kanto, Johto, nor Hoenn, they'd wanna keep it fresh instead of telling all the kiddies out there why Ash is a 30+ year old geezer who's Pikachu can't make it past Level 30. In conclusion, it's better to keep him in a floating timeline than to have that type of character development to appeal to children.