Finding a solid animation tv series list feels like a full-time job lately. Seriously. You open Netflix or Hulu, and you're immediately bombarded by a wall of colorful thumbnails that all sort of look the same. Some are clearly for kids, others are "adult" but just rely on shock humor, and then there's the stuff that actually has a soul. It's overwhelming.
I've spent way too many hours—honestly, probably weeks of my life—digging through these libraries. Most people think animation is a genre. It isn't. It’s a medium. You’ve got high-octane space operas, quiet slice-of-life dramas, and psychological thrillers that make True Detective look like a Saturday morning cartoon. If you're looking for something that actually sticks with you, you have to look past the top ten trending row.
Why Your Current Animation TV Series List Is Probably Boring
Most lists you find online are just "Top 10" recycled garbage. They tell you to watch The Simpsons or Family Guy. Look, we know they exist. They've been on since the dawn of time. But if you want the stuff that’s pushing the medium forward right now, you have to look at how the industry has shifted toward prestige storytelling.
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Take Arcane on Netflix. This show changed everything. Produced by Fortiche Production in France, it took a video game property (League of Legends) and turned it into a Shakespearean tragedy with art that looks like a moving oil painting. It didn't just "rank well"; it cleaned up at the Annie Awards and the Emmys. When you’re building your own animation tv series list, this should be the gold standard. It’s dense. It’s beautiful. It’s heartbreaking.
Then you have the "indie" explosion on YouTube and smaller streamers. Shows like Helluva Boss or the pilot for The Amazing Digital Circus (which racked up hundreds of millions of views) prove that the big studios don't have a monopoly on quality anymore. People want weird. They want specific visions.
The Heavy Hitters You Can't Ignore
If you're building a watchlist, you have to start with the foundational stuff that isn't just "funny."
- Bojack Horseman: It starts as a goofy show about a talking horse. By season three, it’s arguably the most accurate depiction of depression and addiction ever put on screen. It’s brutal. It’s also hilarious, which makes the gut punches land harder.
- Blue Eye Samurai: This came out of nowhere on Netflix. It’s a revenge story set in Edo-period Japan. The choreography is better than most live-action Marvel movies. It’s gritty, R-rated, and visually stunning.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: Yeah, it's a "kids' show." But it handles themes of genocide, imperialism, and redemption better than most prestige HBO dramas. If this isn't on your list, you're doing it wrong.
- Pantheon: This one is criminally underrated. It’s a hard sci-fi show about "Uploaded Intelligence." It’s smart. Like, really smart. It was originally on AMC+ before being scrapped and then rescued by Prime Video. It’s the kind of show that makes you stare at the wall for twenty minutes after an episode ends.
The Anime Gap
A lot of people separate "cartoons" from "anime" when they search for an animation tv series list. That's a mistake. You're missing out on some of the best writing in the world.
Think about Pluto on Netflix. It’s a reimagining of an old Astro Boy arc, but turned into a neo-noir murder mystery about robots. It explores what it means to have a heart. Or Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which basically saved the reputation of the game it was based on. Studio Trigger brought a frantic, neon-soaked energy to that show that you just don't see in Western animation.
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The distinction is blurring anyway. You have American showrunners working with Japanese studios, and Japanese directors influenced by Western cinema. It’s all just great TV.
Don't Fall for the "Adult Animation" Trap
There's a specific style of show that popped up after Rick and Morty got big. You know the ones—ugly character designs, lots of screaming, and cynicism for the sake of cynicism. Honestly? Most of it is skip-worthy.
True adult animation doesn't have to be mean. Scavengers Reign is a perfect example. It aired on Max (formerly HBO Max) and it’s essentially a biological horror/survival story on an alien planet. There’s very little dialogue. It’s meditative. It’s terrifying. It respects your intelligence enough to let you figure out how the alien ecosystem works without an annoying narrator explaining everything.
How to Actually Organize Your Watchlist
If you want a curated experience, stop just adding things randomly. Categorize them by the "vibe" you’re after.
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- The "Mind-Benders": Undone, Scavengers Reign, Paprika (movie, but watch it anyway), Perfect Blue.
- The "Emotional Destroyers": Bojack, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, The Legend of Vox Machina (it has its moments).
- The "Action & Spectacle": Arcane, Castlevania, Invincible, Primal.
- The "Comfort Watches": Bob’s Burgers, Over the Garden Wall (perfect for autumn), Hilda.
Primal is a weird one. Genndy Tartakovsky—the guy behind Samurai Jack—made a show about a caveman and a dinosaur with zero dialogue. It’s pure visual storytelling. It’s violent and visceral, but it’s also incredibly touching. It reminds you that you don't need a 20-page script to make an audience cry.
The Impact of Streaming on Your Options
Streaming killed the Saturday morning cartoon, but it gave birth to the serialized epic. Back in the day, episodes had to be "episodic" so you could watch them in any order. Now, writers can craft 10-hour movies.
This is why shows like Invincible work. It takes the superhero trope and deconstructs it over a long arc. You see the consequences of the fights. The blood stays on the suit. The trauma sticks. We're in a golden age, even if the apps make it hard to find the good stuff.
What People Get Wrong About Modern Lists
The biggest mistake is thinking animation is a "lesser" form of storytelling. I’ve seen people pass on Vinland Saga because it’s "drawn," while they sit through a mediocre live-action Viking show with bad CGI. The irony is that animation often has a higher production value than "prestige" live action because every single frame is intentional. There are no "accidents" in animation.
Also, don't ignore the short-form stuff. Love, Death & Robots is an anthology. Some episodes are hits, some are misses. But the ones that hit—like "The Witness" or "Jibaro"—push the boundaries of what computers can actually render.
What to Watch Next: Actionable Steps
Stop scrolling the "Recommended for You" section. It's an algorithm that wants you to stay on the app, not necessarily to find your favorite show.
- Check the Studio: If you liked Arcane, look up Fortiche. If you liked Castlevania, look up Powerhouse Animation. Studios usually have a "vibe" they stick to.
- Follow the Creators: Find out who the head writers were. If you liked the humor in Gravity Falls, you'll probably like The Owl House or Amphibia because the creative circles overlap.
- Look Internationally: Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon (mostly movies, but worth noting) and France’s various studios are doing incredible work that looks nothing like the "CalArts" style common in the US.
- Give it Three Episodes: Animation often needs time to find its visual footing and tone. Star Wars: The Clone Wars starts out as a shaky kids' show and ends as one of the best war stories in the franchise.
The reality is that a great animation tv series list is always changing. New tech, better software, and global collaboration mean that the "next big thing" could come from a small team in their bedrooms or a massive studio in Seoul. Just stop looking for "cartoons" and start looking for great stories that happen to be drawn.
To refine your search further, start by picking one sub-genre—like "speculative fiction" or "historical drama"—rather than searching for animation as a whole. You'll find much deeper cuts that way. If you’ve already finished the mainstream hits, look into The Midnight Gospel for something philosophical or The Dragon Prince if you need a high-fantasy fix. The depth is there; you just have to stop scratching the surface.