Do you think Ash/Satoshi should be replaced?

[GWrando]

I think rather than immediately replacing him, they should move Ash to the Brock role and focus on a rookie trainer. It would enable them to keep Ash, have him grow as a character and still focus on new characters.

They already did that with May, does that not count? Or did you not see the Hoenn saga?

They did it poorly in Hoenn, Ash acted as the mentor all of three episodes until Brock returned. After witch he returned to business as usual. He still gave her advice, but as time went on he regressed more and more into his old patterns until around the battle with Brawly he didn't really act like a mentor at all. So no... that doesn't count.

It was the writers mistake for bringing Brock back not Ash's for trying to help May out in the beginning. Besides, I'm sure if he didn't show up he would have probably continue doing so along with Max. As far as his regression goes, this happened in every saga and will probably happen again either with him in XY or another protagonist. If the writers wanted him to succeed than he would have already. Changing main characters won't solve this problem that they seem to have.

It is true that most of the problems lay with mistakes made to keep Ash continually in the position of a travelling trainer with a childlike wonder, the problem is continually doing so long enough, regressing him each time will eventually lead to a point where all fans, new and old, want the character replaced. This is due to certain writing tropes called "Aesop Amnesia", "The Chris Carter Effect", and "Yo-Yo Plot Points", granted I hate the names it’s the only way to make certain people understand what I am talking about; these scenarios will eventually cause all to tire of the continuous reset of the character and diminish the viewership of the series. The fact that it has lasted this long without people growing tired of it yet is nothing short of amazing. I think many Pokémon fans are beginning to suffer from Ending Fatigue... we want to see Ash's story end, just to see his story end and for no other reason.

The basic reasoning behind them not removing Ash previously is the fact that there are new viewers all the time... unfortunately they also feel to realize that with the accessibility of the internet to younger and younger fans and the growing amount of youths that base their primary opinion on what they hear and see online, added together with the numerous people online calling for the replacement of Ash will cause even the younger fans to turn against the once loved protagonist. We are headed for a perfect storm against Ash and the writers will realize it eventually, I just hope it's before it leads to the end of Pokémon.

Once again I hate using tropes when referring to things... I just don't think people have the patience to read the five page editorial I wrote on Pokémon and the current state of its primary character.

 

[SatoSerefan5229]

ABSOLUTELY! Ash needs to retire. I don't hate Ash but I think the X/Y anime will do better with a new hero.

 

[dracoflare]

No, unless they end his reign with a tournament that he actually wins, beat at least a member of the Elite Four and look strong (like his DP self) I won't want him to end. Why? After watching the show for ages, watching him leave after a terrible performance in Best Wishes is an insult to all those who have been watching it. DP was the perfect time to kick him out, and step up his story. I want his story to end, but not after a terrible saga like Best Wishes. If XY saga is good and he does an excellent performance I won't mind them ending his story.

 

[Ranger Jack Walker]

It is a question of going out with a roar or going out with a whimper.

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

If they're gonna keep making him lose Leagues every 3-4 years, sure. Let the poor kid win already, win the so called "Champion League" too, and let someone else take his place.

His journey ended a while ago. It's time to let him go if you can't handle him well, writers.

I say replace him after Kalos. It wouldn't be right for him to go out in his Unova form. I guess the same goes for Team Rocket, as old and tiring as they've gotten this saga.

If they're doomed to lose time and again, then just replace them now.

 

[dracoflare]

Seriously, DP was really a perfect time. They had so many references to the Champion League. They had hinted that Ash will one day challenge the Champion's League. They built the hype around Elite Four so perfectly. A dual hero story line with Ash as the protagonist who challenges the Champion's League and a new hero who starts from scratch. The old ans will vouch for Ash and watch his episodes while the newer fans could watch all the episodes.

It could have been much easier to write for them though time consuming.

 

[Almonds]

Give him the friggin League Champion Cup in XY and be done with him...

...is what I'd like to say. But of course they'll never replace him because they're too scared the new boy won't be as popular as Ash

 

[Mewtwo0]

until the day he'll become the pokemon master, no.

 

[Spartan_16]

I think rather than immediately replacing him, they should move Ash to the Brock role and focus on a rookie trainer. It would enable them to keep Ash, have him grow as a character and still focus on new characters.

They already did that with May, does that not count? Or did you not see the Hoenn saga?

They did it poorly in Hoenn, Ash acted as the mentor all of three episodes until Brock returned. After witch he returned to business as usual. He still gave her advice, but as time went on he regressed more and more into his old patterns until around the battle with Brawly he didn't really act like a mentor at all. So no... that doesn't count.

It was the writers mistake for bringing Brock back not Ash's for trying to help May out in the beginning. Besides, I'm sure if he didn't show up he would have probably continue doing so along with Max. As far as his regression goes, this happened in every saga and will probably happen again either with him in XY or another protagonist. If the writers wanted him to succeed than he would have already. Changing main characters won't solve this problem that they seem to have.

It is true that most of the problems lay with mistakes made to keep Ash continually in the position of a travelling trainer with a childlike wonder, the problem is continually doing so long enough, regressing him each time will eventually lead to a point where all fans, new and old, want the character replaced. This is due to certain writing tropes called "Aesop Amnesia", "The Chris Carter Effect", and "Yo-Yo Plot Points", granted I hate the names it’s the only way to make certain people understand what I am talking about; these scenarios will eventually cause all to tire of the continuous reset of the character and diminish the viewership of the series. The fact that it has lasted this long without people growing tired of it yet is nothing short of amazing. I think many Pokémon fans are beginning to suffer from Ending Fatigue... we want to see Ash's story end, just to see his story end and for no other reason.

The basic reasoning behind them not removing Ash previously is the fact that there are new viewers all the time... unfortunately they also feel to realize that with the accessibility of the internet to younger and younger fans and the growing amount of youths that base their primary opinion on what they hear and see online, added together with the numerous people online calling for the replacement of Ash will cause even the younger fans to turn against the once loved protagonist. We are headed for a perfect storm against Ash and the writers will realize it eventually, I just hope it's before it leads to the end of Pokémon.

Once again I hate using tropes when referring to things... I just don't think people have the patience to read the five page editorial I wrote on Pokémon and the current state of its primary character.

I do agree to a point.

First off Ash wont be going anywhere, his conection to the old characters and Pokemon plus his marketability and Pikachu. Pikachu alone is enough to keep him in. I also get the feeling that any new protagonist would be a carbon copy of Ash.

What really annoys me is they continue to struggle to surround Ash with the right travelling companions, reset him to being a noob at the start of every new region and not diversifying his as a trainer with the Pokemon he catches. The trio of Ash, Misty and Brock was brilliant, then i even felt they did well in Hoenn. But in Sinnoh Dawn and Piplup were new trainer and Pokemon made out to be on the same level as Ash and Pikachu. Unova was a train wreck on all fronts, the companions added nothing new, Ash regressed as a trainer and his leauge defeate was just a total mess. Not to mention that in Unova Pikachu was set back to level 1 and lost Volt Tackle, with the rival outclassing Ash being a brand new first time trainer. (I still cant get over the loss of Volt Tackle).

In Sinnoh we saw how he coped with his Pokemon and their issues, allowing them to overcome them exhibiting his skills. Torterras issues after evolution, Gligar's fear of heights and childishness, Buizel fitting into his team, the trade that with Aipom and Buizel, Infernape's blaze and Paul issues. All exhibited Ash at his best, they even snuck in a Pikachu evolution episode and Ash's battling brilliance with things like adapting the spin move and a counter shield to name a few.

The reality is that the only reason that fans are "suffer from Ending Fatigue... we want to see Ash's story end, just to see his story end and for no other reason." is because of the way the writers are portraying him, a new protagonist will not change that. I think all the writers need to do to reignite/refresh Ash is to give him the right travelling companions and rivals, stop making him a noob and allow him to display qualities as a trainer he has shown before give him a dragon type to fully train from start to finish or a ghost type, not giving him the same squad every gen, there are a number of types he has not caught yet, maybe an Eevee to see how he would handle all the evolution options. Maybe bringing back old Pokemon into rotation like with Charizard or even finding old friends like Pigeot. Even adding rare Pokemon to his team, personally i would love to see Ash with an Arcanine or Riolu/Lucario given his aura being so strong. Maybe even just to mature his character, im sure that would help, or confirm the whole Ash Misty thing.

For me the base of it is that Ash is not necessarily done, the writers just need to start doing their job..... I am enjoying the N series though look forward to seeing the return to Kanto too.

 

[Almonds]

If they're not going to replace 'Ash', then I kinda wish they severed ties with all the past and started with a brand new Ash that is a completely new trainer - in other words, a different Ash in a parallel world with no reserves and having no history of traveling with Misty or May or anyone else. Thus, we get a new boy that shares the same design as Ash and same name as Ash and even gets a Pika starter like Ash.

 

[FANG-TAN]

I have to get something off my chest.

You know what's stupid about this fandom? At least the anime portion of it? It's that, despite all the justifications for ignoring older things just because "little kids wouldn't understand it" and should grow up with a new character they can get attached to (i.e. Mewtwo), they argue that Satoshi shouldn't be replaced because it'll be such a travesty and ruin its marketability to the kids if they followed anyone other than Satoshi.

Um, Satoshi is a friggin' relict too, isn't he? Using that logic, it works like this: It's not like the new kids that are just getting into the show would give a crap if it's about a character other than Satoshi, because they aren't even attached to him until they actually watch the show. They'll get attached to ANY main character that's there when they first tune in. The only fans that even remotely care about Satoshi getting replaced in this day and age are people who grew up with the show, and right now plenty of the former seem to think it's about time he passed the torch. Plus, Satoshi isn't "marketable". The POKEMON are.

When someone gives a valid reason as to why it's a good idea to keep Satoshi around as the main character forever, I'll take the "little kids" argument a bit more seriously. Because, really, if you're going to ignore everything established in the show because new kids don't care as long as there's new Pokemon and new characters they can grow up with, then it stands to reason that they should just make a god damn new show. This contradictory logic baffles me.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

JUST NO OK THAT IS ALL I WANT TO SAY OK.

 

[Magma Bomb]

I have to get something off my chest.

You know what's stupid about this fandom? At least the anime portion of it? It's that, despite all the justifications for ignoring older things just because "little kids wouldn't understand it" and should grow up with a new character they can get attached to (i.e. Mewtwo), they argue that Satoshi shouldn't be replaced because it'll be such a travesty and ruin its marketability to the kids if they followed anyone other than Satoshi.

Um, Satoshi is a friggin' relict too, isn't he? Using that logic, it works like this: It's not like the new kids that are just getting into the show would give a crap if it's about a character other than Satoshi, because they aren't even attached to him until they actually watch the show. They'll get attached to ANY main character that's there when they first tune in. The only fans that even remotely care about Satoshi getting replaced in this day and age are people who grew up with the show, and right now plenty of the former seem to think it's about time he passed the torch. Plus, Satoshi isn't "marketable". The POKEMON are.

When someone gives a valid reason as to why it's a good idea to keep Satoshi around as the main character forever, I'll take the "little kids" argument a bit more seriously. Because, really, if you're going to ignore everything established in the show because new kids don't care as long as there's new Pokemon and new characters they can grow up with, then it stands to reason that they should just make a god damn new show. This contradictory logic baffles me.

Couldn't have said better, I can't see any flaws in your logic.
In the end the viewers more attached to Ash are actually the ones out of the target demographic and most of the people that started the series in the OS are not even watching the show anymore. The ones thats started during DP or BW would get an initial shock, but so were people watching Digimon or Yu-Gi-Oh! when their casts changed. And the ones that will start from XY couldn't care less.
Ash is not the face of the franchise, it is Pikachu. Give one to the protagonist of XY and we are set.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Even after 67 pages full of discussion it seems never ending debate between pro and anti side isn't swooning at all.

Main argument from those which advocate Ash leaving is based around "small kids don't care, therefore Ash leaving wont leave any negative impact on franchise".
But issue i have with this is its contradictory part, because if older fans don't matter and new kids wont care who is in show being already fine with current protagonist perceiving him as new character than whats the point of replacing him?

Needless to say coming up with such broad conclusion how "new generations aren't attached to Ash character at all" would be understatement to say focusing only on short term popularity while completely ignoring how much of impact someone iconic like Ash left on pokemon series franchise and marketing on long term scale.
Requiring further examination.

Small kids probably aren't attached to character to same degree like older fans are, but he is still mascot and main face of pokemon series to them being used to character. He is also most recognized anime mascot(along with Pikachu)worldwide and having him replaced after 15 years could confuse young viewers with anime losing its identity,which would in process turn them away from new alternate show.

New guy don't have 15 years behind himself, wouldn't be iconic and recognizable to people like Ash is lacking stamina,promotional value and appeal to bring in new viewers toward anime like current protagonist does. Not to mention there is no guarantee that he would be accepted among viewers with new character dragging with himself risk of ending up unpopular.

Pokemon anime is largely different from shows like Yugioh, Digimon, Beyblade and similar likes. It was designed from start to be revolved around permanent protagonist who is out of respect for pokemon creator carrying his name gradually developing , meeting friends and exploring new regions, pokemon and cultures with aim of becoming pokemon master. Therefore whole stricture of this show is subjected to him and his quest of becoming best and renowned pokemon trainer in world.

Ash is not one of traveling companions which gets replaced after every few years not staying long enough to become show staple and even than their leaving doesn't always go without backlash(see Brock departure after OI or Misty's after Johto). He makes this show representing it, bringing new fans toward it and advertizing new games. On long term scale everyone and their mother when you ask them about pokemon anime immediately associate it with Ash and Pikachu.

Because they are viewed as inseparable couple which promotes anime worldwide. Just like Naruto stands out for Naruto, Goku for Dragon ball, Luffy for One Piece, Astro Boy for Astro boy etc, etc, etc.

Needless to say while im frustrated with his lack of more concrete development as anyone else i don't want him gone just to end up with replica of current character still suffering from lack of substantial growth, being reset at start of every new saga and having more or less similar quest collecting badges, personality, and storyline like Ash currently does.
Because with current limitations and writers lack of motivation to jump hurdle and take anime to higher level nothing would have changed for better with new protagonist.
Considering how issue doesn't lie in Ash character and lack of potential which clearly is there to be done more, but writers and as long they don't decide to break mold and add new , different spins to anime and characters no amount of new additions is going to change current formula.
Moreover if your going to make replica of Ash with new guy using Pikachu, might as well keep current protagonist instead.

Large appeal behind this show comes from being treated as entity based story which is set in same timeline and universe exploring on constant protagonist and his companions supposing to follow them on adventure and receive build up on stories and friendship as they get to know each other over time and share their ambitions and dreams.

Making pokemon unique and different compared to other anime adaptations which usually last for 52 episodes being chopped in multiple alternate deviations.
Personally i would rather want that writers for change invest more in Ash story take established character to new, unexpected directions having more complex growth. He hasn't won a league yet,concept of champion league which was for first time brought in DP has been relatively unexplored and Ash never officially challenged E4 and champion so there certainly exist prerequisite to do follow up of what what developed in past.

If anything judging by massive demand for original trio reunion or revival of previous companions it seems to me how most fans just want better written show which pays attention to history and previous companions investing more in main protagonist and his companions they grew to like. As opposite to starting things without finishing them, which is in writers habit it seems leaving most characters unfinished.

Instead of replacing Ash and everything this show stood for i would rather want to conclude pokemon series when that day finally comes with Ash storyline with no new remakes being made, which would only in my opinion take away from finality and significance act of Ash and his companions after more than decade getting finale, closure would provide tarnishing brand this show build around itself after so much time.

 

[SaftOchBulle]

YES. I think they should get a new hero. But it's mostly because I want them to round up Ash's storyline. Let Ash win the Kalos League after an epic journey with great development and get a new hero for gen VII. It would make all my struggle to get through BW worth the while and I can finally go on with my life! I can dream can't I?

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

I really don't want to see an old childhood favorite character be treated like shit for another 30 years. I think Ash leaving sure I'll miss him sure. But I don't want to hear another person say Ash sucks Red is cooler. Give him some legit wins his final win in Unova was against guy he beat pretty easily in his intro ep

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

Please, if you're going to use poor Ash as your marketing poster, just get rid of him. They've should've ended his story after the Sinnoh League at the latest (his story's been over since the end of Johto, IMO). Poor guy can never win a league and become a master.

 

[Almonds]

Because they are viewed as inseparable couple which promotes anime worldwide. Just like Naruto stands out for Naruto, Goku for Dragon ball, Luffy for One Piece, Astro Boy for Astro boy etc, etc, etc.

Needless to say while im frustrated with his lack of more concrete development as anyone else i don't want him gone just to end up with replica of current character still suffering from lack of substantial growth, being reset at start of every new saga and having more or less similar quest collecting badges, personality, and storyline like Ash currently does.
Because with current limitations and writers lack of motivation to jump hurdle and take anime to higher level nothing would have changed for better with new protagonist.
Considering how issue doesn't lie in Ash character and lack of potential which clearly is there to be done more, but writers and as long they don't decide to break mold and add new , different spins to anime and characters no amount of new additions is going to change current formula.
Moreover if your going to make replica of Ash with new guy using Pikachu, might as well keep current protagonist instead.

Large appeal behind this show comes from being treated as entity based story which is set in same timeline and universe exploring on constant protagonist and his companions supposing to follow them on adventure and receive build up on stories and friendship as they get to know each other over time and share their ambitions and dreams.

Making pokemon unique and different compared to other anime adaptations which usually last for 52 episodes being chopped in multiple alternate deviations.
Personally i would rather want that writers for change invest more in Ash story take established character to new, unexpected directions having more complex growth. He hasn't won a league yet,concept of champion league which was for first time brought in DP has been relatively unexplored and Ash never officially challenged E4 and champion so there certainly exist prerequisite to do follow up of what what developed in past.

You said it yourself - while Naruto, Goku, and Luffy are indeed mascots of the show, they were showing progress and development throughout the entire anime. Unlike Ash, they trained themselves a lot that when you look at the first episode and 500+ episodes later, there is a clear development. They even aged. We can see how the protagonist 'grows up' after a long adventure and many harsh battles - we find ourselves growing up with them, and while they may have tough times, have any of them regressed? Have any of them been completely became a noob? Like, Naruto suddenly doesn't know how to throw shurikens? Luffy doesn't know how to even rubber-punch? Ash has been reset each time he went to a new region (except Johto), and in Unova he doesn't even know the basics of capturing a pokemon.

Other anime where the character doesn't grow up aren't comparable - I've said this many times. Doraemon, Maruko, and Shin-chan are mere slice-of-life animes where the story revolves around the characters' everyday life. They don't go on an adventure. They don't do anything. They just stay in the same town undergoing the same comedy every single episode. Pretty much like The Simpsons, if you ask me. The exception to this would be Detective Conan - but he's been a smart kid from the start. And whatever knowledge he acquires from the many cases he solves - he doesn't forget. He doesn't age, but he's getting smarter and the knowledge he accumulated in his brains up till the recent episodes is a frightening amount. What about Ash? Wasn't there someone who lost to a kid who doesn't even know the rules of the Unova League?

Replace Ash, or just friggin develop him up. We want development and progress, not a stupid noob who gets regressed and reset. Think playing safe is a good idea? When they're showing absolutely no signs of improving the show, I doubt playing it safe is even 'safe' anymore.

 

[Magma Bomb]

Pokémon is an anime with the purpose of making a huge ad for the games of whatever generation we are at the moment and selling the games. To put it short, it is a cash cow franchise, so comparing it with shows like Naruto or One Piece is a bit too much because we are talking about shows with two different goals.

Pokémon is not a slice of life series, the characters are supposed to develop and grow. You are right there, but the keyword is 'supposed' because its status as a cash cow prevents the character development from sticking.
It is a simple equation. If Ash ever gets to be a master, then the show has no reason to continue, but they need to keep it running to advertise the next generations. The solution is obvious, he doesn't win, ever.
It doesn't matter how strong he becomes, he will always reset and forget most, if not all, of his knowledge so the newcomers can understand the mechanics behing the franchise. His Pikachu's power will be get a reboot as well since starting a new journey with the power of taking down a Latios would remove all the challenge and he can't become permanently that strong because, remember, he must lose the league in the end. Hence the resets and lost IQ points.
In the end watching the series expecting Ash to become a fully realized master is as futile as watching Gilligan's Island expecting the cast to leave the island. The need to keep the series running makes the development inconsistent, despite of the existence of a continuity. In fact, I watch it to see how his current companions will develop, because since they will eventually leave in the end their acharacters are allowed to grow up in a sense.
See? There are things not even good writing can overcome when your hands are tied like that.

So, how do you overcome the formula in a cash cow series like Pokémon? You replace the main character every generation, so you can give the characters an end to their journeys and wrap up their growth without having to stop the show altogether. Because if they don't replace it, then the anime will only come to an end the day Gamefreak stops making more Pokémon games and you all know it will take an eternity because it is the second most successful franchise from Nintendo.

 

[CrystaI]

As I see from this thread, most of the people in the anti-replacing-Ash group use the reasons of:
1. Ash should not be replaced because he is the mascot and the soul of the Pokemon anime;
2. It is unacceptable to replace him while he had not achieve anything yet;
3. If Ash is to be replaced, that means his existence was meaningless, which is an insult to him;
4. They (the scriptwriters) will make a carbon copy of Ash if they replace him with new protagonist, so what's the point of replacing him?
5. The anime had ran already for 16 years with Ash, Pokemon anime without Ash is incongruous and inappropriate;
6. Replacing Ash will make the anime less marketable, so he should not be replaced;
7. A simple fondness reason from the Ash fans: "He is an interesting character, why replacing him?"

Firstly, I personally do agree Ash should not be replaced immediately, because then it will just make the anime looks very bad. But however, I also agree that Ash should be replaced immediately when time is suitable, where such "suitable time" is the time when he had made an significant achievement like winning the next coming up XY Kalos League, becoming a champion, and/or had finally qualified as a Pokemon Master. This, will obviously depends on whether the scriptwriting of the next XY saga allowed to produce such replacement chance or not. If story plot of XY is as suck as in DP and/or BW, then too bad, Ash don't get a chance to be replaced. Then the Pokemon anime will truly deteriorate into a promotion video of Pokemon franchise merely just to lure the kiddies audience to buy their merchandises, without much appreciable value in its story as being a literary work. There is then no need to watch the Pokemon anime further because it is just an advertisement.

Most of people in the pro-replacing-Ash group look at the Pokemon anime as a fictional literary work, hence we heavily demand Ash to be replaced because his existence ruins an finely-made fictional work. We had our plausible arguments based on our basic knowledges of what makes good story writings, basic understanding of mentality of target audience market, and of course the 16 years history of Pokemon anime itself. Our reasons of Ash should be replaced are as follows:
1. He may be the main protagonist for Pokemon anime for 16 years, but he is not the mascot of Pokemon as a whole franchise, so replacing him shouldn't do harm to Pokemon as a whole. Besides, they had done character replacement with all the companions around him, why just not Ash himself?
2. He is regress and reset as he went to a new region, which is just impossible from character development viewpoint. Who on earth will continuously experience amnesia without his head getting damage? So make him grow! If don't make him grow, then replace him! In any case, if he is a newbie for every region, rather just make a real newcomer as protagonist for every region, where in such case is more plausible.
3. Make another Pokemon anime protagonist =/= Make a carbon copy of Ash. Who said the new protagonist must be Ash ver.2? Must the new protagonist has the same idiotic mind and childish behaviour and naive personality as Ash? Can we not make the new protagonist having a different personality from Ash? Like this time having a clever cool-headed guy that knows how to battle strategically and creatively, or a pervert that is soft on cute ladies, or a short-tempered guy that likes to pick fight. Such characters will certainly be more interesting than current Ash Ketchum, which will consequently make the show more enjoyable.
4. When we had a new protagonist, the story itself will then obviously be different. The new protagonist may still go to travel the region but not necessarily be reason of League challenge and Gym Badge quest. Even the new protagonist still follows Ash footstep of Badge quest, but this time we are looking at story of this newcomer but not Ash, his way of achieving this quest will be different from Ash, and his battle style may also differs from Ash, so everything is new despite his goal is the same.
5. Whenever we as an TV audience to watch a show, we like to see a dramatic story. And in order for story (especially adventure story) to be dramatic, show should focus on a competent person. Ash Ketchum, he is surely not competent as being a Pokemon Trainer. If the anime didn't focus on Ash but some other characters like Gary Oak, the anime might turn out to be more interesting. Ash Ketchum, now feels more like an ordinary sub-character that you can meet everywhere on the road. In short: Flat and not outstanding.
6. Pokemon anime was originally an adventure story with continuity, so by reseting Ash was already a breaking of that continuity. Why Ash is still 10 after he had traveled 5 regions? Why the hell he forgot how to catch Pokemon? You remember your old friend Charizard that was evolved back in Kanto, and left in Johto, but you don't remember all the battle strategies you had ever used back in those regions? Your memory disorder is more severe than just incurable.
7. What happened to your dream of becoming a Pokemon Master? Do you even remember it? If Ash had lose his reason to be a Pokemon Trainer, why the show still continues, other than the only reason of promoting the Pokemon franchise?
8. The Pokemon anime was originated from the main series Pokemon RPG game. But the game don't continue to use Red, the very first player of first main series Pokemon game, in later generations. What was the reason behind continue using Ash, where Ash was originated from Red?
9. The Ash fans said replacing him is an insult to him, but the anti-Ash fans say continue the current regression and degradation is even a bigger insult to him, because he is not a character on its own, but a marketing tool to lure audience and to promote Pokemon merchandise.
10. Pokemon as a franchise is popular because of the cute fictional creature called Pokemon, not Ash Ketchum. You wanted to talk about marketability and salability of the Pokemon merchandise due to Ash? His contribution is probably lower than one may expect.
11. Marketability is certainly not a good excuse to keep Ash forever, and should not become the only reason. FANG-TAN had stated already that new audience will attach to any main characters when they first introduced to the show, so actually it doesn't matter whether the protagonist of Pokemon anime is Ash or not. Also, by introducing new protagonist, it will not only attract new audience, but also keeping the old fans active, much better than using the same one over and over.

...and there are more reasons that I can't even remember and list them all. But these will be the basic ones I saw in this thread the most often.


Of course, the Pokemon anime has more story writing problem than Ash only, and such problems will not be gone by just simply replacing him. The scriptwriters should work not only in developing Ash's characteristics, but also in putting more efforts in writing a more plausible and less childish plot.
Let see how the next XY saga goes in terms of story development. If Ash doesn't receive a good plausible ending in the end of XY saga, then probably his story will never end, and we as the pro-replacing-Ash group can certainly be dead set on forever disappointment and despair on Pokemon anime.