NME Recommends: the best adult animations

Initially debuting to a mixed reception on Netflix in 2014, BoJack Horseman rapidly blossomed into not only one of the best animated shows on TV, but one of the best shows, period. Centring on the trials of a washed-up ’90s sitcom horse, the show’s hybrid world of people and talking animals has ironically proved to be the perfect vector to tackle very human topics such as mental health, addiction and celebrity culture. While BoJack sadly came to an end earlier this year, it still stands as one of most relatable animated series around.
Sam Warner

A lot of the time, animation is used to depict things that couldn’t be possible in the real world. It’s quite ironic, then, that it’s a medium put to sublime use in Anomalisa, 2015’s stop-motion masterpiece from introspective auteur Charlie Kaufman – a film that’s all about the human condition where everyone in the universe is voiced by the same one actor (Tom Noonan), bar our two love-bound leads (David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh). It’s a perfect Kaufman trick, hammering home the sheer boredom and mundanity that Thewlis’ character – world-weary author Michael Stone, who writes motivational books about customer service – feels in his own life.
Luke Morgan Britton

Following the antics of best pals Tuca – a carefree toucan voiced by Tiffany Haddish – and Bertie – an anxious and loyal song-thrush played by Ali Wong – as they navigate their lives in Bird Town, Tuca & Bertie is beyond brilliant. On the surface it’s an uproarious comedy filled with kaleidoscopic visuals and pithy quick-fire dialogue, but look a little closer and you’ll find a TV show that tackles mental health, sexuality and the power of female friendship with sensitivity and warmth.
Hannah Mylrea

Take the slapstick antics of Tom and Jerry and the murderous violence of The Simpson’s Itchy and Scratchy before cranking the debauch-o-meter up until it breaks – around this point, you’ll land on Happy Tree Friends. A monumentally messed up splatter comic created by Aubrey Ankrum, Rhode Montijo and Kenn Navarro, this pastel-hued world looks just like any other kid’s cartoon until the extreme gore begins – each episode features a series of adorable woodland creatures meeting fates so grisly you have to watch through your fingers. So intensely dark and gruesome that you have to laugh, I constantly wonder how I was ever allowed to watch this fucked-up parade of horrors as a teenager.
El Hunt

The Shivering Truth is like your nightmares if you happen to be a very whimsical psychopath. A series of barely connected vignettes – a man with sort-of weird spaghetti arms becomes entranced by a girl who lives in the static of a TV screen; a woman forces a man to pray that he can fly, then rides him across a park – are brought to horrifying life by wobbly stop-motion animation. The human hand is visible in the wonky creations, which makes it all the more troubling as you stop to think: “Wow, some freak actually came up with this stuff.” Wallace and Gromit would shit themselves.
Jordan Bassett

Bob is an ambitious but humble burger chef who just can’t catch a break. Working in his restaurant are his overzealous, drama-loving wife Linda and three troublesome kids Tina, Gene and Louise. While on the surface it feels like wholesome family fun, the show is actually a trojan horse filled with wicked in-jokes and surrealist musical comedy. Voiced by an all-star cast that includes Kristen Schaal, H. Jon Benjamin and Dan Mintz, and with many of the musical numbers covered by the likes of The National, St Vincent and Sleater-Kinney, this is the holy grail for indie fans who need to chuckle and binge.
Andrew Trendell

A cult classic, this spooky sci-fi isn’t for any scaredy cats out there, but to follow this story you’ve got to endure a little bloodlust. Full of gore and the odd moment of cannibalism, it follows the journey of average bookworm Ken Kaneki and his newfound ghoul-ish ways. After finding out his crush’s flesh-eating tendencies they end up in a near-death accident which results in him becoming half-ghoul. Now battling between being a half-human and half-human eater, this beautiful coming-of-age story is an emotionally taxing watch (if you ignore Tokyo Ghoul :re, anyway).
Kyann-Sian Williams

If you’ve ever watched Adventure Time, you’ll know all about creator Pendleton Ward’s love of sneaking adult content into kids cartoons. That show ended in 2018, but Ward’s latest project on Netflix is aimed at grown-ups, which means he can stuff it with all the innuendo he likes. Add to that a ton of gory violence, extremely fruity language and philosophical discussion (the kind you only have while hotboxing your mate’s tent at Reading) and you’ve got an episode of The Midnight Gospel. Precisely what’s going on is anyone’s guess, but following Clancy, a spacecaster with a malfunctioning multiverse simulator, as he hops betweens virtual planets is surprisingly addictive.
Alex Flood