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Cartoons such as Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, or Avatar?
What I love about these series is the overarching plot that isn't too obvious, lots of character growth, and a great mix of comedy and seriousness between episodes.
A show I tried that was advertised as similar was Star vs. the Forces of Evil that was a little too in your face with a lol random personality that I don't really click with.
No restrictions on time period, and feel free to suggest anime if it fits the bill, I just posted in TV as I these aren't anime and I don't have much experience in the area.
"Adventure Time" and "Legend of Korra" are ones that come to mind. "Over the Garden Wall" as well but it's not what I'd called comedic.
If movies are on the table here's what checks your boxes that immediately came to mind
"Nimoa"
"TMNT Mutant Mayhem"
Other recent things I'd probably recommend that perhaps aren't as readily recommended
"Scavengers Reign" - serious, surreal sci-fi. Beautifully done but no comedy
"Less popular" Miyazaki films - less comedy but lots of character development without being overly dour. "Kiki's Delivery Service", "Ponyo", "My Neighbor Totoro" are some of my favorite but they're all really good
This absolutely blew my mind from a world-detail perspective. I've got Pantheon in the queue. No idea if its the same level, though.
I enjoyed pantheon, but for entirely different reasons than scavengers reign. It was a pretty well thought out AI (ish) scenario, decent pacing, good characters, etc. Definitely worth the watch
Oh you're in for a treat when you watch Pantheon. I had a slight existential crisis after watching each season. Definitely one of my favourites out of all the series mentioned so far
nice! I'm stoked. I had that sort of response after Midnight Gospel ended.
This is always a favorite of mine. To anyone who is lurking on this thread. Watch it. But do yourselves a favor and wait until fall. The whole vibe of the show is very fall centric to me and it just feels right. Its short, like 10 episodes and you can knock it out in a weekend. Really beautifully animated show with stellar voice actors.
It will likely take me a few years to get through all the recommendations in this thread, so I'll schedule this for the fall!
There's a lot I don't like about Korra
Weak spoiler for end-of-season action scene.
Why were giant mech battles how TWO seasons ended?!But it's hard not to acknowledge how the show runners swung for the fences in both series with the themes they portrayed in a children's show.
Spoiler for a theme in Season 4 of Korra
Korra's journey with PTSD was one of my earliest exposures to the idea, and felt like a very powerful depiction of how trauma can trap someone.Much as I enjoyed it (and generally recommend it), I don't think it really fits OP's criteria at all beyond "animated" and "overarching plot". It has a very different feel than the shows OP listed.
On top of being much more somber, SR's story is told in a different way that give it a more disjointed feeling imho. The shows OP mentioned all have an overarching plot but by and large follow the perspective of the same character (or character group) with each episode being a sort of "problem of the day", which is to say each episode is it's own fairly self contained story. Major plot developments happen more infrequently so you could skip some episodes and generally pick right up without feeling lost. It's very casual. SR's story is told by jumping back and forth through multiple, independent storylines that eventually converge but mostly feel like completely separate stories. Some episodes favor different threads more heavily, but the overall density means that missing an episode means missing a lot of important info.
I watched all of Legend of Korra already and really enjoyed the steampunk atmosphere, but agree the characters are not as strong as in TLA.
I'll check out a few episodes of Adventure time to see if I enjoy it or not, I have been somewhat sceptical just from clips online but that is not giving it a fair shot.
Movies are great recommendations and I was thinking about watching Nimoa, will be sure to check it out!.
I will say, Adventure Time definitely starts to get better and a little more mature around season 3 onwards. Still a lot of good stuff in the first two seasons but i feel like it really hits its stride and grows out of its lol random goofy wacky phase into something a little more refined and unique to its own vibe and identity. The episodes are all short too, 10m a pop, so try to give it time if you dont exactly vibe with the initial outings.
As others have said, season 1 and most of season 2 is a bit whacky but they do a good job of showing its potential and where it'll go. From there on its brilliant. The HBO one off specials and the Fiona and Cake spin off are really fantastic as well. For me, its the best cartoon I've ever seen.
The new She Ra reboot (haven't seen the original) is pretty great and fits a similar feel to Avatar for me. It has a little weaker character growth and story than Avatar, but not so much to render it unenjoyable.
Thanks will add She Ra to the list especially with how many others are endorsing it in this thread!
Some others that haven’t been mentioned
Owl House
Infinity Train (later seasons are kinda just ok)
Adventure Time (though there’s lots of random episodes as well)
Star Wars Rebels (if you’re into Star Wars)
Owl House was a really fantastic show. I really loved the themes of love and acceptance, and the animation could be outstanding at times. It was full of surprisingly compelling lore and a cast of lovable characters and pathos.
"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" is great too and now there is "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" too! all of them are worth watching. I suggest watching in this order (chronological order):
The Owl House is magnificent and deserving of all the praise. It's a shame the 3rd season was cut short, but Disney making weird decisions is par for the course there.
Not a fan of star wars but I'll add Owl House to the list!
I'm sceptical about Adventure time from what I've seen but I'm down to give it a shot.
Infinity train looks like a really cool concept, will check out the first season eventually.
There aren't many cartoons as good as Avatar, but any time this question is asked my first recommendation that comes to mind is always The Dragon Prince. It's not as good, but it is co-created with Aaron Ehasz who was the head writer and co-producer on Avatar.
I've frequently touted The Dragon Prince as the best (off-brand) D&D cartoon I've ever seen. The characters are great and the world itself feels like a great spin on the classic Tolkienian fantasy world.
For anyone looking to check it out for the first time though, fair warning: the animation in the first season is pretty choppy because it's done at a relatively low frame rate, but it improves dramatically with season 2.
If you have Netflix, I highly recommend "Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts". It's complete and it's about a pretty colorful post-apocalyptic world where a lot of animals have mutated and developed strong intelligence, and forced humans into hiding. It was a fun watch for me.
If you want something aimed at more mature crowds and don't mind darker humor: Hazbin Hotel just released its first season on Amazon. It's about the princess of Hell opening a hotel to try to redeem sinners, and it's pretty dang fun. Biggest downside is it's only 8 episodes long, and no word on when season 2 will drop yet. There's also a spin-off series called Helluva Boss that's on YouTube, though personally not as big of a fan of the main protagonist in that one.
Then there's Harley Quinn on MAX. I watched the first... Two, three seasons I think? That one was a LOT of fun. Very violent and lots of dark humor obviously, but each season so far had some overarching plot.
I came here to recommend Kipo! The soundtrack is amazing, and the themes and morals are really good without being heavy handed. I can't wait until my niblings are old enough to enjoy it.
Kipo was my first thought as well when I saw what OP was looking for.
I loved Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss, and I’m actually looking for more shows like that, that aren’t interested in courting both kids and adults, but a strictly for adults cartoon. I’ve been a fan of adult swim for years but kind of fell off after the Venture Bros. I really enjoyed Close Enough until it got Zazlov’d. Invincible is fantastic as well. What I enjoyed about Hazbin Hotel is that it has an almost Looney Tunes quality to it in the way the characters move and talk, and even the sound design, but it was also very fresh and new.
I do have netflix and Kipo sounds right up my alley!
I'll also add Hazbin and Harley Quinn to the list, but probably won't get to Harly Quinn for a while as I don't have Max and I would want to finish Batman the animated series first so I at least have some background knowledge on Gotham City.
I'm surprised Hilda (Netflix) hasn't been mentioned yet.
And then there is the classic that is Batman the animated series (as well as the rest of the DCAU)
Hilda is such a good one!
I’d also add 2017 DuckTales to the list. I haven’t watched Steven Universe, but Gravity Falls and Avatar round out my top 3 cartoons of all time with DuckTales.
Alright I just looked up DuckTales and saw that David Tennant (my favourite doctor) is Scrooge McDuck and I'm sold!
I know almost nothing about that universe, anything I should read or watch beforehand or can I go in blind?
You can go in blind. It is stand alone and you don't need to know any lore to appreciate it.
Agreed. There are tons and tons of Easter eggs, but no knowledge is required to enjoy it. You just won't be as excited when characters from other Disney Afternoon 90s shows appear.
Thank you for the Hilda recommendation I'll be sure to check it out especially after a few others also endorsing it!
For Batman the animated series I'm not that into superhero media, but all I have really watched is most marvel films up to endgame along with a handful of spiderman, superman, and batman movies. I'm down to give it a shot! I found a recommended viewing list on reddit that cuts out the bad episodes, do you agree with this or I should just watch it all?
That list looks pretty good. If you find yourself enjoying it, give the "bad" episodes a shot, because I can't think of any truly bad episodes just ones that aren't as great.
But that post sums up my feelings on the show, it laid the ground work for so much that followed.
I'd say watch them all, though that list is definitely a good starting point! If you're watching it on Max, I think it scrambled the episode order for some reason so that list will help. While many of the episodes can be watched at any time, there are some that definitely follow a certain continuity. Pretty Poison and Two-Face are the big examples to come to mind.
Side-note: I'm not hugely into superhero media either, but the DC Animated Universe feels like a golden standard to me. I've been saying for years that DC's films would have been better if they just adapted some of the DCAU stories. So hopefully that means you'll enjoy this more than the movies!
A lot of my picks have already been listed, so I'll pitch in Amphibia. It's another animated series that starts off pretty shallow and episodic, but it develops an overarching story that becomes increasingly complex with higher and higher stakes. It has some pretty dramatic character development over the series, where most of the main cast become unrecognizable by the end. I initially was pretty meh about it, but by the end I was binging it and glued to the screen. I don't want to say too much about it since the discovery is part of the fun, but stick with it and it really takes off.
For the record, my other picks from the thread are: She Ra: Princesses of Power, Hilda, Owl House, Dragon Prince (not so much more recent seasons though) and Kipo.
You pitched Amphibia well and I'll be sure to check it out!
I'll add a few more to the list of those already mentioned:
With more adult comedy:
More humour focused and for "younger" audiences:
Not at all funny but beautiful:
I absolutely do echo recommendations to watch Pantheon and Scavengers Reign, they would have been on this last list if they weren't already mentioned.
Also for anyone who has young kids (or not) I will never stop plugging Bluey. It's my comfort show :)
I absolutely love Bee and Puppycat. I like how even though there is this great fantastical world and dark threatening characters it always keeps them in the background and prioritizes the characters and their feelings. And the whole thing looks amazingly gorgeous visually. It’s a masterpiece of vibes.
Bee and Puppycat set the bar for me as far as "whimsical slice of life (but not exactly)" shows go. It really is great and I hope they continue it!
Have you watched Summer Camp Island? It's more "childish" and the style is very different, but also hits the whimsical show spot for me. Not among my favourites, but it might be up your alley if you like B&PC.
I did watch the first episode or so, but I felt a bit alienated by the very young characters.
Yeah that's fair, I did drop it at one point in the beginning but then went back to it as I ran out of other things to watch. It is intended for younger audiences after all.
Teen Titans had good overarching plots with each season having a big picture antagonist. And tons of character development for each of the team members. One of the best cartoons ever, in my opinion. I think it would be a good fit for what you are looking for.
I'm assuming you mean the series from 2003 and not the reboot.
I hadn't thought about that in forever, and now I'm awash in a wave a nostalgia for that show.
She Ra reboot (quite childish but in a way I enjoyed)
Owl House (you think it's episodic until the overarching plot sneaks up on you, like Gravity Falls)
Adventures of Fiona and Cake (TV-14, exactly the kind of adult Adventure Time people dreamed of)
Huge vote for Owl House!
This thread is making me think I need to go check out She Ra!
Do, it's wholesome and fun but doesn't lose its emotional resonance. It recognizes and acknowledges the dark but it doesn't ever fall into it. It's a bit like classic Star Trek in that it believes in the best of everyone and people in general. Has some great story moments and I'd recommend it to anyone.
I don't think I saw Gargoyles on here. That's like the grand daddy of continuity in kids shows
Star Trek Prodigy might fit the bill, if you're willing to expand to 3D animation. It gets off to a slow start but picks up after a few episodes.
A bit of a sidebar, but a lot of the cartoons mentioned are part of the Flapjack Family, in that a lot of the show runners worked on the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/188sq8k
I can vouch for all the featured cartoons, if any catch your interest.
Also, because I completely put it out of my head, Disney's X-Men '97 has been pretty good and is headed towards a 3 part season finale.
Star vs Evil does calm down on the "random" humor as the plot ramps up and the character needs to grow up. Unfortunately, it's a case of "it gets good by season 3".
A lot of my favorite western animations are already mentioned so some anime recommendations I give to everyone are:
Spy x Family - A cold war, Mr/Mrs Smith story where the kid, dog and babysitter are all wrapped up in it.
Violet Evergarden - Post WW2 drama about a child soldier finding herself by working as a typist. A little more anthology but you track the characters development over 5 years. Can be on the nose at times but it's beautifully animated and I ugly cried at times.
A Place Further than the Universe - A grounded school adventure about kids wanting to go to Antarctica and figuring out how to do it.
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Fairly new but quickly moving up my favorites list. the story begins at the end of a decade long debenture to kill the demon king. And we immediately skip 50+ years to where the heros die happy and peacefully, save for the immortal elf who figures out a little too late how important those relationships were. This comic sums it up best.
Even then, I don't really thinks it sticks the landing because it wanted to tackle deeper material than it really knew how to, and the ending is infamous among the fandom for not really landing as intended.
Second "A Place further than the Universe" and "Violet Evergarden" though.
Click to expand spoiler.
Star chooses to give up herself and all of magic in order to save Marco (and both her worlds). She chooses to do it knowing she will never be with him again. Even with the happy twist at the end, you don't get over those emotions quickly, they stick with you.
If someone really has trouble getting into the series, I would suggest watching Episode 1 then jumping to Episode 13 and continuing from there before flat out giving up. There is a lot of things in season 1 that could be considered filler, but later on become clear that there was a plan for most of the characters and their arcs from the beginning.
Okay, let's get into the weeds on children's entertainment.
My major issue with the ending
Two things that kind of annoy me about the magic decision. In universe, we have no idea of the implications of turning off magic across all of everything. Ponyhead and her family seemed to survive it well enough, but they made a point of having some of the counsel members of magic no longer be alive due to that decision. That's also a decision that Star made for every creature in existence without input, and if the show's message is that the monarchy shouldn't unilaterally make decisions to make their subjects lives worse in the name of their own values and pride, then it's a bit of a mixed message in the finale.
Out of universe, it's kind of a "flip the table" solution to governance and revolution that so happens to work out, and the show frames it as entirely the right thing to do because magic is the tool of the oppressors and if you take it away the world is better off for it." Maybe that's true, but it needs to be better established and not brought up and an option at the end of the penultimate episode. Maybe it would have gone down better if this was something of last resort, or explicitly the Royal Magic was cut down as opposed to all magic across all creation, or it was the only way to stop the death spell, but as presented, the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.
Not to take anything away from you, your feelings and how the characters were represented, this is how I feel and I thought it landed sour.
No hurt feelings or anything on my end, we simply seem to have different interpretations of what happened and what the meaning of it was. Star's struggles fit with my personal world view, and my own experiences when I was a teenager who was given too much responsibility and power. Despite trying my best things were continually misunderstood and went awry. I find it very relatable even as an adult with a kid of my own.
I don't think the show's message is that monarchy shouldn't unilaterally make decisions. Star makes that decision at one point in the series, but she almost immediately sees that the Mewmans and Monsters go right back to fighting. The gap in power that she leaves is exploited and leads to war. There's also the ironic that her deciding to not rule the monarchy is making a decision that all of her subjects will have to live with. It is supposed to be messy, it is not supposed to have a clear answer or moral. For me it made the show better, and I completely understand how it may have made the show worse for others.
Thank you for the anime recommendations! I'll check out
A Place further than the UniverseandViolet Evergardendue to the additional endorsement from /u/moocow1452.I recently finished season 1 (25 episodes) of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, and it's amazing! Like ATLA, the show is extremely character driven with incredible world building and some episodic storytelling in the mix. It has it all: coziness, comedy, action, romance, adventure, existentialism, heartwarming moments, dark moments. I'm now watching commentaries to get my fix after the show is over. I can't recommend it enough!
Edited to add another anime that was short and enjoyable and might be your vibe: Somali and the Forest Spirit. In short, a forest golem embarks on mission to reunite a lost child with her family. It's cute, funny, and also kinda dark.
If you're willing to try anime Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood checks all those boxes.
I have actually watched all of Fullmetal Alchemist that I enjoyed for the most part! However that was 5 years ago so I could see myself watching brotherhood eventually even though they are somewhat similar.
I've never seen all of the original Anime, but they split fairly early on in Brotherhood's runtime and after that it's an entirely different story.
The plot majorly diverges and they become practically different shows. Around FMA's episode ~30 is around brotherhood's 12 then the rest of the 50 episodes are completely different. It feels much more like ATLA in terms of being an adventure compared to the original show's more character drama focus (not to say there isn't character drama in broship)
Close Enough
In that vein, Regular Show is the precursor show and is still available for streaming in it's entirety rather than being taken out back braids the barn for a quick buck.
Where can you even watch this anymore, besides the high seas of course?
I haven’t seen it mentioned, sorry if I missed it, but Final Space is a show I can wholeheartedly recommend. It has silly and serious moments, the latter seasons are a bit “lol random” at times but it’s very well written in my opinion.
Man I loved Final Space! Tragic it got cancelled and pulled off (HBO) Max. Looking forward to, one day, reading the series finale graphic novel. Final Space Ends
If 3d animation is OK, I highly recommend Star Trek: Prodigy. Frankly, it was the most like the 90's Star Trek of any of the new Star Trek shows. It does an great job developing the crew, the backgrounds are beautifully animated, and overall it's just fun to watch.
Venture Bros. For adult comedy.
One Punch Man to get into anime comedy.
Going off road here. South Park develops continuity leading into the Stick of Truth game, so season 17 episode 8 onwards I think is when the show hits a new stride.
Regular Show is a great companion to Adventure Time.
Since you mentioned One Punch Man, I'll also throw out Mob Psycho 100. It's by the same author, and has some of the most banging openings in anime.
A great mix of light and heady.
Clone Wars
Primal
Carmen Sandiego
She-Ra
Dragon Prince
Trollhunters (and it's spinoffs, but they aren't as good as the original. RIP that guy)
Bluey (kind of a different vibe, but it has some very heady moments. There is kind of is an overarching plot, but it's not that obvious, it's more like a difficulty curve than a plot)
Bluey is kind of amazing. It’s meant for very young kids but it doesn’t talk down on them or patronize them, and the adult characters aren’t cardboard cutouts, and they take their plots fairly serious. As a result it’s pretty enjoyable for all audiences. The show has won a ton of awards.
Bluey is wonderful, and as a parent of a toddler I feel seen by it. I'd describe it as a slice of life show about parenting that both kids and adults can enjoy. It's beautiful but not what I thought of for OPs prompt of over-arching story and character development. However, anyone looking for wholesome, sweet and funny content should watch it anyway.
I actually think it's meant for the adults, but trying to make it accessible enough for the kids to enjoy it...
From wiki, emphasis mine:
Yes, I'm not saying it is 'a product made for adults,'
What I'm saying is:
The thing Bluey does is evoke an idyllic relationship between parent and child, where the parent is free, available and able to be a child's equal in play, and is able to rediscover that disentangled feeling of free play.
This is something I think many parents aspire to, wish for, enjoy when they can, but... The Cat's in the Cradle.
The kid characters are playing. It's cute, it's funny. It works as a piece of children's entertainment.
But the primary force inside the show is acting on a desire inside the parents.
Kids are attuned to play. They will learn to engage in imaginative play, and turn all actions into games, instinctually. It's part of the normal and fairly universal development process. They don't need a show to teach them that, and I don't think most kids can distinguish between the quality of play between Bluey and, let's say, Hot Wheels City Adventures.
Bluey's success, in my opinion, is not because it is more strongly attractive to kids than other kids entertainment, but because it is more strongly attractive to parents, who see it scratching something deep for them.
And then, they choose this over some other show, they are more likely to watch it with their kids, they advocate for it with other parents, and they make it 'award winning kids entertainment.'
I interpreted
in response to
As disagreeing with who the primary (who it’s intended for) and secondary audiences (who else can still enjoy or benefit from it) are, but it sounds like just a semantic issue and actually agreement in spirit.
I'm not sure I'd call Primal light, it is very violent and gory at times. It's still an interesting series, and made by Gendy Tartakovsky, the creator of Dexter's Laboratory,
Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, and more recently, Unicorn: Warriors Eternal. If you're a fan of those shows it's worth checking it out.Gendy Tartakovsky did not create Powerpuff Girls (though to my memory he did direct a few episodes).
Oops you're right that was Craig McCracken! Fixed my comment.
You're right. I guess I meant 'having moments of levity' -- which it does, but yeah, it's downright grisly in terms of violence.