What this is
The timeline of the 2022–23 switch away from Ash as the anime's lead: 98 days from the December 2022 announcement to his last Japanese episode, and what stayed the same.
How it’s built
- From dated announcements: 98 days from the December 2022 announcement to Ash’s last Japanese episode, 21 days to the new series, and 168 days to the US finale.
- Pikachu, Pikachu’s voice actor and the copyright holders were unchanged across four dated observations.
What we assumed
Nothing. The figure is used as published.
Sanity check
No document says whether the production committee or The Pokémon Company made the decision, and no commercial reason was given; executives spoke of renewal.
Where it comes from
Our calculation from other figures in the trainer’s notes:
- EstimateWho decided the rotation: no source attributes it to the committee or to TPC alone, 16 December 2022
- ReportedThe reason a Pokémon Company International executive gave in March 2024 for replacing Ash as anime lead
- ReportedTPCi executive reason for rotating the protagonist (Okiura), 12 March 2024
Show the working
- Announce 16 December 2022 to JP final 24 March 2023 days: 98
- JP final to new series 14 April 2023 days: 21
- JP final to US finale 8 September 2023 days: 168
- Committee roster observations unchanged: 4
- Stated commercial reason: none
- 2022-12-16 -> 2023-03-24 = 98 days
- 2023-03-24 -> 2023-04-14 = 21 days
- 2023-03-24 -> 2023-09-08 = 168 days
- roster identical at 2022-12-16, 2023-03-03, 2023-04-14, 2026-11-01