Thread: Should Ash age or not ?

Maybe it would been batter if the writers didn't mention his age like you said. That way this and the thread below this one wouldn't have a debate square off.

To add on to my comments above, I would like to say that when I mean "age him up", I mean DP-style. I don't want the shippers getting their way, and I've seen too much badfic to ever like a 16-year-old Ash Ketchum. But ignoring that one episode about Ash and Pikachu's first meeting anniversary, I liked the whole ambiguous thing. You knew that he wasn't too young, but he also wasn't so old that he would act like, say, Tracey or Brock. But BW threw all that out the window, and even if you think Ash was still 10 in AG/DP, that doesn't explain why he would randomly go from somewhat mature to mid-Johto if it wasn't an age reset.

I don't think anyone wanted Ash to become Brock's age, but slightly older.

If they said Ash was 14 when DP started, would anyone think he looked too young? I didn't. There was something about the way he was drawn that made him look slightly older.

What about him exactly made him look older? I don't get it. Was it the shirt? I might go with that, since it did seem more proper.

Could we just make Ash around 12? It's not that big of a leap, so they wouldn't lose their "target audience," and it would satisfy the need for aging. Plus, Ash had an 11th birthday, but not a 12th. (They really need to age him...)

Safety in ambiguity. Case in point, AG/DP
Too bad that was thrown out the door with BW...

Sinc he's now confirmed 10, I think they should just stick to it and keep him 10 forever. Seriously, if Ash starts aging now the only explanation is that Ash ages exponentially, which will suck for him later on.

Originally Posted by Samurott

What about him exactly made him look older? I don't get it. Was it the shirt? I might go with that, since it did seem more proper.

Well the ambiguity surrounding his age helped tremendously, but what sealed the deal for me was the fact that he clearly matured as a character in AG and DP. In Hoenn he mentored a newbie trainer for the first time and built a team from scratch (Pikachu apart), which obviously threw him into situations that truly tested his standing as a trainer and helped him improve such as the battles with Brawly and Drake of the Elite 4. In Sinnoh he made even more progression by finishing top 4 of the Sinnoh League, bowing out of the tournament having taken out two legendaries owned by a trainer who was obviously a plot device to stop Ash from winning the whole thing anyway.

The mention of Ash being 10 as of the beginning of Best Wishes and the overall writing of his character in the saga - a mellowed version of his Kanto self, is just so disappointing after feeling as if his character and story was finally reaching some form of satisfying closure. The Ash of old was literally ready to take on the so-called "Champion League", but the Best Wishes Ash is resigned to being one badge behind his newbie rival and being called a kid by his traveling companion who only had experience of playing in the woods. Depressing.

It would be kinda strange for Ash to start randomly aging all of a sudden. Although they could make him maybe a couple years older...

Originally Posted by manaphy910

Could we just make Ash around 12? It's not that big of a leap, so they wouldn't lose their "target audience," and it would satisfy the need for aging. Plus, Ash had an 11th birthday, but not a 12th. (They really need to age him...)

1. He did not receive Pikachu on his birthday that is a very common misconception. He received his Pikachu at the same time as THREE other trainers. They all got their starters after a festival. Originally he got it when he was 10 years ten months and ten days old.
2. 3 years have pasted since he left. One in the return to Viridian City. Two in Pikachu and Pichu. And there was year between the kanto and Hoenn Grand festivals so he's at least thirteen.

I disagree with the above comment. I think that since it the developers drop that age out of nowhere with only justification being they thought we should have forgotten that time pasted, they can reverse it. Just wait 7 years have him be 15 or 16 then problem solved

I'd rather he keep the maturity he aquires towards the end of a series instead of rebooting it and have him be a complete noob in the next series.

It honestly doesn't matter, but I did like the ambiguous age thing they were doing for AG and DP. Now with BW stating he's 10 and how they're writing him, it just makes you feel like you wasted a bunch of time watching him grow and the writers basically went "Fuck you the entire franchise is going to Kanto style basic shit, including most of the writing of this show."

Originally Posted by Raizhu

Eh, they never should have given Ash an age in the first place.
I'd prefer him not to age. It would just feel... weird if he was 15 or something. :|

I don't think it would be weird if it had been happening gradually over the course of the series. But now that BW came out and said that Ash is 10, that puts a monkey wrench in things. Personally, I thought Ash looked older in DP than he did in the Indigo League. But now, I guess due to the change in animation/character design style in BW, Ash looks the same, if not younger, than he did in Kanto. And that's just weird and not right.

I'd love to see Ash age, maybe it'd add some freshness to his long stagnated character, but I don't think it'll ever happen. Sadly.

While im definitely against having Ash age to some exaggerating degree,like turning 16 or even worse( becoming adult).I dont think it would have been harmful if writers aged Ash a bit,like becoming 12 or 13 to better reflect and justify his on screen growth and development going in correlation with time passage.

Already skilled and experienced characters can certainly be developed further as we get to see in various other shows and by aging characters this provides new window of opportunities through which thy can develop someone easier.Likewise this allows for some deeper character growth through which Ash or any character couldnt go as kid along with new obstacles and struggles being put in front of him now that he is older having to cope with new situations developing further with story being enriched and more complex.

Aging even to small degree often helps and allows character to grow forward and advance skills with new things being done with them which isnt possible if they are kept forever in same role.

EDIT:Im not sure from where people get idea how Ash age was left unclear in Hoenn and DP,when as a matter of fact it wasnt.In DP in one of episodes im pretty sure it was stated how Ash is still 10 and in interview with ex pokemon director Masamitsu Hidaka it was officially confirmed how Ash will never age.

So why statement of Ash being 10 in BW is all of sudden shocking is beyond me.

Originally Posted by Blazing Charmander

The mention of Ash being 10 as of the beginning of Best Wishes and the overall writing of his character in the saga - a mellowed version of his Kanto self, is just so disappointing after feeling as if his character and story was finally reaching some form of satisfying closure. The Ash of old was literally ready to take on the so-called "Champion League", but the Best Wishes Ash is resigned to being one badge behind his newbie rival and being called a kid by his traveling companion who only had experience of playing in the woods. Depressing.

To be fair,hasnt Ash always been referred as 10 year old long before BW even existed?

Also i dont think Ash regressed back to Kanto self being rather big exaggeration.He is more experienced in BW compared to Kanto days which can be evidenced when battling Elesa and others as well showing signs of maturity not responding to Trip or Iris provocations so impulsively and recklessly like it was case when he was complete rookie just starting out.
Ash was toned down,but definitely not that much.

While i agree how Ash seemed experienced more mature than it was case before in DP reflecting better character growth making him seem "older"(well not literally),i dont really think he had what it takes to win against champion or E4 even if he won tournament.He lost every single match in history with E4 members or champions and easy defeats against Bertha and Flint cleared that up with writers leaving kind of message how Ash still isnt ready having to learn more.
At that point with current development Ash got his story didnt really allowed for proper closure.Trying to wrap it at that point would only bring rushed and badly done work.

Originally Posted by pokemon fan 132

EDIT:Im not sure from where people get idea how Ash age was left unclear in Hoenn and DP,when as a matter of fact it wasnt.In DP in one of episodes im pretty sure it was stated how Ash is still 10 and in interview with ex pokemon director Masamitsu Hidaka it was officially confirmed how Ash will never age.

So why statement of Ash being 10 in BW is all of sudden shocking is beyond me.

To be fair,hasnt Ash always been referred as 10 year old long before BW even existed?

Also i dont think Ash regressed back to Kanto self being rather big exaggeration.He is more experienced in BW compared to Kanto days which can be evidenced when battling Elesa and others as well showing signs of maturity not responding to Trip or Iris provocations so impulsively and recklessly like it was case when he was complete rookie just starting out.
Ash was toned down,but definitely not that much.

While i agree how Ash seemed experienced more mature than it was case before in DP reflecting better character growth making him seem "older"(well not literally),i dont really think he had what it takes to win against champion or E4 even if he won tournament.He lost every single match in history with E4 members or champions and easy defeats against Bertha and Flint cleared that up with writers leaving kind of message how Ash still isnt ready having to learn more.
At that point with current development Ash got his story didnt really allowed for proper closure.Trying to wrap it at that point would only bring rushed and badly done work.

Oh... I guess that that's what I get for only watching very few of DP's episodes dubbed. *le blush* The fact that I never heard Ash being explicitly mentioned as still being 10 on the show or by fans on forums during the saga meant that I sided with those who used the 'ambiguity' of his age in this debate. I must admit though - apart from the first episode I don't recall having heard his age referred to while I consistently watched the dub from the OS through to the Battle Frontier saga. That said, perhaps your persistence in watching the dub faithfully after that point gives you a better grounding in this debate.

My embarrassment aside though, I still stand by my argument that given the nature of the show and its plot, it would be better if Ash's age was left open to interpretation in order to give logic to his obvious character development and resulting maturity (prior to Best Wishes, anyway).