16 years later and Naruto is my age but Ash is still 10

With the popularity of PokemonGo, and it being all that everyone on my Facebook timeline will currently talk about, it got me thinking about the character Ash and how he hasn't changed in 16 years, while characters like Ben10 and Naruto have aged in that time. I am not so into Pokemon but I've watched a few of the early series, cried at the end of the very first film, played variations of the games and seen the different 'companions' come and go. Naruto, however, I have been invested in from day one and am still an avid watcher. 

Naruto 

I have truly enjoyed watching Naruto grow up. When someone (fictional or not) is a part of your life for as long as Naruto has been a a part of mine, it's kind of hard not to get too attached.

The best part of 'hanging' with this character and his friends is the fact that although I was 20 when we met, I think we are now around the same age and have children the same age and bizarrely face similar problems with our kids. Clone 2 is turning ten soon and I can see him really wanting to be more independent and I am still saying you are too young. I also see the same interactions between my two clones as there are between Himawari and Boruto and that I had with my bro. Nothing compared to Naruto's troubles as a parent but I can completely sympathise even more with Naruto.

Ash
I know hard core Pokemon fans are a little annoyed with the popularity of Pokemon Go! especially from people who called anime childish at one point or another.

"These guys will never know who Misty is!"

I totally get that. My kids have jumped on this band wagon late as everywhere we go and every playdate we are on parents are handing over their phones to the kids to play this. I finally gave in as we were kind of sitting around waiting for play dates to start as the other kids were too busy with PokemonGo. It was actually kind of annoying.

Anyway, I guess Ash resonates really well with kids because well he is still ten years old. I recently read a theory about him being in a coma and that during the coma he was reliving the best year of his life. I like this theory. Looks like Ash will be ten forever. I would love to see a fifteen or twenty year old Ash on screen or even a live action Pokemon.

Well I am off to have another attempt at watching Sword Art Online.

Alicia