7 Adult Animated Shows Where Every Episode Is a Masterpiece

Image via Netflix Published Oct 17, 2026, 9:04 AM EDT Diego Pineda has been a devout storyteller his whole life. He has self-published a fantasy novel and a book of short stories, and is actively working on publishing his second novel. A lifelong fan of watching movies and talking about them endlessly, he writes reviews and analyses on his Instagram page dedicated to cinema, and occasionally on his blog. His favorite filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky and Charlie Chaplin. He loves modern Mexican cinema and thinks it's tragically underappreciated. Other interests of Diego's include reading, gaming, roller coasters, writing reviews on his Letterboxd account (username: DPP_reviews), and going down rabbit holes of whatever topic he's interested in at any given point. Sign in to your Collider account It's rare enough to run into an animated show for adults that's genuinely great from start to finish, but to find one that's not only great, but that doesn't even have a single episode that isn't arguably an absolute masterpiece? Now, that is a rarity that makes such series absolute must-see gems for anyone who loves adult animation. Thankfully, over the course of history, this precious phenomenon has occurred not only once, but on seven particularly noteworthy occasions. Whether we're talking about a criminally underrated and underseen show, such as Monkey Dust, or a hyper-acclaimed blockbuster series like Arcane, adult animated shows whose every episode is a masterpiece are perfect proof that cartoons are often an awfully underappreciated medium. People who think of animation as "lesser" than live-action have clearly not seen these shows, shows which demonstrate just how close to perfection televisual animation for older audiences can truly come. 7 'Monkey Dust' (2003–2005) Image via BBC The British satirical sketch comedy Monkey Dust, created by Harry Thompson and Shaun Pye, is far and away one of the best animated series for adults of all time—which makes the fact that it has been forgotten by many with the years' passage all the more tragic. The show built its reputation as an unparalleled cult classic of quintessentially British dark comedy through its unfiltered, satirical comments on British anxieties and institutional rot. It's the type of series that takes taboo topics like murder, violence, and sex and smashes those taboos like they're toothpicks. Over the course of its three seasons and 18 episodes, the series never ceased to feel less like a traditional sketch comedy show and more like a deeply bleak sociological autopsy of British civilization, but one with a sense of humor so universal that it should be perfectly enjoyable regardless of where the viewer is from. Unlike most standard sketch shows, Monkey Dust has more serialized character arcs that allow each of its episodes to feel atmospheric, haunting, and perfectly interconnected. 6 'Smiling Friends' (2020–2026) Image via Adult Swim Due to creative burnout and a desire to end things on a high note, creators Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack decided for Smiling Friends to end after its third season, which leaves us with 27 of the best animated adult sitcom episodes that the small screen has ever seen. This is, indeed, one of the best animated TV shows of the 2020s so far, a hysterically surreal and visually delightful extravaganza that's easily among Adult Swim's most unforgettable creative triumphs to date. It's a chaotic, endlessly mind-bending and hilariously absurdist comedy full of contrasting visual styles, radically genre-bending moments, and surprising emotional sincerity. Each episode has the perfect balance between grotesquely nihilistic chaos and genuinely touching, empathetic explorations of themes like loneliness, friendship, and existential dread. It's subversive yet infinitely more earnest than it may seem on the surface, resulting in a masterpiece so exquisitely chaotic that it feels like it couldn't have been made in any era other than the 2020s. 5 'Æon Flux' (1991–1995) Image via MTV Between 1991 and 1995, Liquid Television aired on MTV, an experimental animation showcase that launched high-profile original cartoons of the caliber of Beavis and Butt-Head and—of course—Æon Flux. This avant-garde extravaganza was created by Korean animator Peter Chung, and though it's a hugely influential and widely beloved cult classic, it still tends not to get quite as much love as it deserves. Incorporating elements of genres like biopunk, dystopian sci-fi, and psychological spy thrillers, it's one of the most delectably complex animated shows for adults out there.It's also one of those sci-fi shows that get better every episode, and it just so happens that throughout its whole three seasons and 21 episodes, Æon Flux never ceases to be an absolute masterpiece. It's a philosophically charged fever dream that treats the televisual medium as some sort of canvas for pure experimentation and psychological exploration, a thoroughly subversive and radical story as tonally complex as it is entertaining. 4 'Scavengers Reign' (2023) Image via HBO Max Created by Joe Bennett and Charles Huettner, Scavengers Reign provides irrefutable proof that adult animation is more than alive and well in the 2020s. Though it's a total tragedy that the show wasn't allowed to continue expanding its enrapturing world in subsequent seasons, it was originally pitched as a self-contained miniseries anyway; so, in spite of its untimely cancellation, it nevertheless provides a perfectly satisfying story with a natural conclusion. Through and through, it's one of the best overlooked animated shows that deserve more attention, a criminally underappreciated masterpiece that perfectly blends avant-garde sensibilities with an epic scope that should please any and all space opera television fans. Based on Bennett and Huettner's short film Delicious Feelings, Scavengers Reign became an instant cult classic even before it was canceled, a status that was only further cemented after it came to an end. Here, survival in a sci-fi world is explored not necessarily through a lens of fighting against vicious monsters, nor as any sort of clichéd struggle against nature. Instead, the series constructs an alien ecosystem that feels remarkably alive and lived-in over the course of 12 episodes, making it a must-see for people whose favorite aspect of sci-fi stories is the world-building. Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you'd actually make it out of alive. 💊The Matrix 🔥Mad Max 🌧️Blade Runner 🏜️Dune 🚀Star Wars TEST YOUR SURVIVAL → 01 You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one. APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone. NEXT QUESTION → 02 In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires. AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of. AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant. BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left. CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you're a problem, you're already out of time. DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn't even know I was playing. EThe Empire tightening its grip until there's nowhere left to run. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you deal with authority you don't trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything. ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it. BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better. CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy. DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can't beat a system you refuse to understand. EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn't just tactical — it's physical, psychological, and very much about where you are. AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters. BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest. CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions. DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand. EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire's attention rarely reaches. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are. AA tight crew of believers who've seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose. BOne or two people I'd trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks. CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice. DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last. EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they're actually made of. AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another. AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot. REVEAL MY WORLD → Your Fate Has Been Calculated You'd Survive In…Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for. The MatrixYou took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You're a systems thinker who can't help but notice the seams in things. You're drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it. You'd find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines' worst nightmare. You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it. The Matrix built an airtight prison. You'd be the one probing the walls for the door. Mad MaxThe wasteland doesn't reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That's you. You don't need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon. You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you're good at all three. You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider. In the wasteland, that distinction is everything. Blade RunnerYou'd survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely. You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer. In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional. You're not a hero. But you're not lost, either. In Blade Runner's world, that distinction is everything. DuneArrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards. Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they're survival tools. You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory. Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You'd learn its logic and earn its respect. In time, you wouldn't just survive Arrakis — you'd begin to reshape it. Star WarsThe galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn't have it any other way. You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion. You'd gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire's grip can be broken. You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn't something you're capable of. In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 3 'Cowboy Bebop' (1998–1999) Image via Sunrise Cowboy Bebop greatly helped popularize anime television in the Western world between the late '90s and early 2000s, and that's more than enough to reasonably call it one of the most hugely influential and pop-culturally significant adult animated shows of all time. Influence and impact aside, though, Cowboy Bebop is still an irresistibly fun space Western even if seen in a vacuum. Directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, it's a monumental landmark in the history of adult animation. The factors that make this one of those '90s anime shows that are true masterpieces are manifold. Each one of Cowboy Bebop's 26 episodes is equally perfect and equally essential to this absolutely zero-fluff story, a masterclass in both genre fluidity and airtight writing. This is, at its core, a story about misfits having to stick together yet remaining fundamentally isolated by their own stories, and the way the show blends those character arcs with a richly detailed atmosphere makes it so that each moment of the series feels as meaningful as the last. 2 'Arcane' (2021–2024) Image via Netflix Who could have predicted that League of Legends, of all games, would end up serving as the inspiration for what many would confidently call the greatest adult animated show of the 2020s so far? Arcane is definitely, at the very least, an incredible masterpiece without equal, one of those Netflix sci-fi shows where every episode's a masterpiece. It's well-written, it has some incredibly layered and endearing voice performances, it has a killer soundtrack that's hard to get out of one's head after every episode ends, and it has what may very well be the most visually stunning animation of any mainstream show from the last six years. But regardless of any superlatives, there's one thing that's difficult to deny: All episodes of Arcane, from its instantly gripping pilot to its emotionally cathartic series finale, are nothing short of masterful. Created by Christian Linke and Alex Lee, this steampunk masterpiece is composed of 18 incredible episodes infused with thought-provoking thematic depth, deeply moving emotional complexity, and absolutely engrossing lore and world-building. Highly cinematic and with a perfect balance between tragedy and hopeful satisfaction, it's an irrefutable masterclass in how to make an adult animated show so entertaining that it becomes truly timeless. 1 'Blue Eye Samurai' (2023–Present) Image via Netlfix Created and written by wife-and-husband team Amber Noizumi and Michael Green, Blue Eye Samurai is proof that Netflix is one of the current leaders in the space of animated television for adults. This is, after all, one of the streaming giant's most flawless shows to date, a visually elegant yet violently unflinching revenge tale that finds in 17th-century Edo-period Japan the perfect setting for one of the most visceral, action-packed historical fiction stories that the small screen has seen in many years. But though it's definitely quite heavy emotionally, Blue Eye Samurai is also one of those short TV shows you could finish in one night, so far composed of only eight downright faultless episodes and with a second season fast approaching. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous and wonderfully detailed, the action choreography is some of the most masterfully kinetic that the medium has ever seen, and the writing is so profoundly emotional that anyone who thinks animation is somehow less worthy of respect than live-action television should consider Blue Eye Samurai essential viewing. Blue Eye Samurai Release Date November 3, 2023 Showrunner Michael Green, Amber Noizumi