Why is Ash still ten? Discuss here.

[Honeyichigo]

Why, it is all Hanyuu's fault, obviously.

But in all due seriousness, I believe it is because if they aged him in the story, there would be either a. complaints about the character of a children's anime being 15 or b. the complain about the time gap because, "OMG HE'S 13 AND HE SHOULD 17 ASDFGHJ". People will never be satisfied with his age, so the writers were just like, "Screw it!" and kept Ash the same age, because children would be able to interact and understand his personality better because he's 10. All the same, many of us are still outraged at his stupidity, while others adore it...

This. The unpleasable fanbase would revolt in one way or another if they were to age Ash, or swap him out for a new guy, or whatever. It's really best for them to stick to what works with the main section of the audience than try to please the fringe fans.

[DCKiyoshi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgRBsrBvej4

Here this video should anwser your question

its nothing bad. it has good info

[Serebii]

I really fail to see why this is such a big issue. So many other animated shows do it, keep characters the same age and yet still reference the passage of time. It is really crazy and a discussion point that Pokémon does it?

Each saga isn't an alternate timeline. It's not a coma. It's just common occurances with animated shows

[SimH8]

I guess the writers just don't feel like changing his appearance.

[DizzyCobraMew]

Maybe he fell in a hot tub time machine, or like previously said by others it would be a pain to change his appearance, I think if he wasn't immortal he'd be 26 now

[pacman000]

Here's an explanation I read on IMDb:

"The internal battery died; all time-based events have stopped."

[Ninja Bulbasaur]

Generally, this was supposed to have the users think up some creative ways for Ash to remain 10 in the animeverse, not IRL. Because we all know that IRL, Ash is ten for money. I was thinking of some creative ways for Ash to remain 10 in animeverse-wise. It's for fun. Unfortunetly, everyone keeps saying the same thing; Ash was supposed to be Red, but he's only made for money. This isn't to complain about the problem, it's just to goof off a bit and think up some ways.

I might have to close this thread if we can't stop acting like the money thing's an issue. Everyone, have fun.

[Marbi Z]

I've been wondering why has Ash remained ten throughout the series in general. Sure, most likely the writers didn't want to age him because they wanted him to stay young and untainted as a character. That way, they wouldn't screw with the younger audiences that way. Also, as I read online, it was for money.

I don't like that.

Come on, let's get creative with this. Maybe in the animeverse time passes slower? Let's discuss this here. PLEASE REMAIN APPROPRIATE. And yes, maybe if Ash ages, the universe will come to an end :P

So, yeah. Talk.

You took the words right out of my mouth... Though I would be all for a more mature Pokemon anime for the older fans on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim!

[pacman000]

Maybe they're rounding down. (I'm assuming that only a few years have passed in the Anime.)

[SlimeStack]

Ash was born on the 29th of February and leap years only occur every 28 years in the Pokéworld.

Though I do wonder if Ash did win the Indigo League (or Silver Conference if we're counting the whole original series), then returned for a couple of episodes to meet the new protagonist in Hoenn or something and revealed he was still 10, would anyone really care.

[Angel~]

Because he isn't real.

[deoxysdude94]

Ash is still ten, because he's in a coma, duh!

No, seriously. I think it's because the show is directed towards a certain audience.

[Vern]

@Terra Brabdford,

Contradicts nothing that I said.

[mein]

Ash is ten because the tears of the Pokemon that brought him back to life/un-stoned him locked him at that age. 8)

Besides, who /wouldn't/ want to be ten forever? >no bills >no job >no mortgages >no women troubles >catch pokemon forever.

[PokeMaster366]

Because making Ash more mature or replacing him with a new protagonist would be a pretty ballsy move on their end. Almost like a certain person doing suicide in The Legend of Korra.

It's a common rookie mistake for people who play the metagame as well. Whenever they have something that's already good, they're afraid to try something new out of the fear that it will fail, and it's even worse when there's bigger risk in changing the formula drastically. It's also hard to come up with something new while keeping it as original as possible.

The anime people are afraid of the hate they'll get from changing things too much (and I don't blame them considering that half of the posts I read in the Anime Spoilers thread are filled with nothing but rage against the episodes and the possible future).

[lanmanna]

They made the BW playable trainers older (looking) than 10, so I don't get why the Pokemon anime should be any different. They could AT LEAST make Ash 12 years old (still not a teenager).

[wolvie616]

They way I see it, they ended DP with Ash 15/16, and then the narrarator simply misread his age at the beginning of BW

[lovelyteddy]

Because the writers want to make all of us who were around when Season 1 came out to feel old. I wish i had ash's aging laws.

[yoshi1001]

You also have to consider that the anime hasn't had the greatest success transitioning between characters. If the Brock/Tracey switch had gone better, perhaps they would have been more willing to experiment in this area.

[CyberCubed]

You also have to consider that the anime hasn't had the greatest success transitioning between characters. If the Brock/Tracey switch had gone better, perhaps they would have been more willing to experiment in this area.

Uh, we had many more character replacements successful since then.

[yoshi1001]

Uh, we had many more character replacements successful since then.

But Ash himself has never been replaced (discounting the Raikou special, which they could have used him for). The writers seem to feel some need to keep that element of continuity. Maybe they feel like switching the girl and the plausibility travel companion is enough, maybe they think there's not enough to be gained by putting a replacement in there.

[Ver-mont]

You also have to consider that the anime hasn't had the greatest success transitioning between characters. If the Brock/Tracey switch had gone better, perhaps they would have been more willing to experiment in this area.

Well, now we have the Brock/Cilan switch that seems to have been perfectly well-received, that's one step further from changing only the girl.

[a_deasey31]

Ash is like Peter Pan. He wouldn't grow old.

[Nyarlathotep]

Why is Satoshi's age so important to being with? Really, I don't care if he is 10, 20, 30 or 2000 years old.

[fitzy909]

It's so the anime still appeals to younger viewers. If ash was 24 as he should be, then few little kids would watch it. I wish i knew how he stayed 10 though that would be awesome. Sadly time moves on for everyone else.