>>48602025You're only saying that because it's an opinion that is parroted often. There is hypothetical merit in continuing to follow Ash in that the viewer gets to explore how his character changes over time in response to various external stimuli. But his character development is actually minimal and a detriment to the story overall. However, I will admit that recent formulaic shakeups like the Sun and Moon anime and Pokemon Journeys have made the anime less stagnant, but for a very long time, it was tired, cyclical material that did not capitalize off of the hypothetical opportunities mentioned above but disregarded them instead for a quick and consistent buck.
In a very real way, the way Ash had been maintained throughout the years was despicable. It has only very recently become somewhat acceptable as he is offset by Goh, who functions as a deuteragonist in Journeys. However, Goh's presence more or less serves to recontextualize Ash in such a way that he very nearly becomes an altogether different character anyway. The presence of this doppelganger opens up a somewhat deeper conversation than I'm willing to have at present; in short, it's good marketing, but reflects poorly on the practices that defined/presently define the anime.
Imagine if at the end of Yu-Gi-Oh!, the Pharaoh won his duel with Yugi and wasn't allowed to pass on to the afterlife, and for 21 years, the two of them were still solving weird mysteries and sealing up evil by playing various games, and every four years or so, they found a reason to keep the Pharaoh from passing on. It's nauseating to think about, and it's insulting.
Stories, like most things, have to have an ending. Punctuation gives them meaning. Ash's perpetual journey of non-growth is understandably baffling, and if the character were retired and replaced, it would allow for a fresher, maybe even better, story to succeed his.
