I would have been 13 or 14 years old, and I definitely remember the hype. People allegedly had cam recordings from Japanese cinemas and I went to dodgy websites trying to watch it. Who can forget Kaboom and his "his name is Beerus!!" In response to "Bills" :troll
I might be wrong, but I believe...
The viewer is aging out of the demo, while the demo stays the same. Pokemon wants to appeal to 10 year olds. If you watch it for 7 years and you turn 17, it's still appealing to 10 year olds. Nothing wrong with that.
Protagonist will typically be aged in the key demo so it's easier for those kids to relate to the character and self insert themself into the fantasy. I don't think it's all that deep.
I'm rewatching the Sopranos. The main character is a 40-something, fat, balding Italian mobster. It shows that...