Variety in animation?

We used to have awesome bad ass action cartoons like Samurai Jack and the Clone Wars. Now it seems like all the cartoons aimed at adults are comedies. What happened? Are action cartoons no longer profitable? I think Cartoon Network and Adult Swim went to crap.

I would like to see an awesome action packed Sci Fi animated series.

How about a fantasy themed animated series that has the same level of quality as Game of Thrones? I think we need a little more variety in animation.

Have you tried looking to anime? There's all kinds of stuff there. There are some tropes and animation quirks that will be unfamiliar at first but if you stick with it you can find some great stuff. I recently watched Kill la Kill because of this thread someone made elsewhere on the site and loved it. It's a little more plot heavy than something like Samurai Jack but it shares in having a good mix of crazy action and occasional light-heartedness. Oh, and some ridiculous outfits.

Because in western animation if it aint for kids it has to be adult-comedy if not "oh noes this cartoon is not ok for my kids" ... you get the gist :/ reasons why I love anime there something for everyone and any age , so sad that the western world cant see that. More stuff like you posted and also like Aeon Flux , the Mask etc. those were the days

Ghost in the shell, cowboy bebop, gantz, knights of sidonia, Legend of Galactic Heroes, Psycho pass, Durarara!, Full metal alchemist Brotherhood, Avatar: Legend of aang, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Shinjeki no Kyojin (attack on titan), Black Lagoon, Hajime no Ippo, Kill la Kill, Terra e..., Texhnolyze, Ergo proxy, Spaceship Yamato 2199.....

You need to watch some anime. All the above are what you are looking for.

Anime opens up a whole new world of great mature themed animated shows. But if you're looking for strictly western shows, all I can tell you is Avatar the Last Airbender and its sequel the Legend of Korra.

I'm seeing a lot of anime being mentioned here, but aren't a lot of them part of the Shonen demographic which , from what I remember reading when I still watched and read the stuff, is aimed towards teens in Japan?

@insane_shadowblade85: Well a huge amount is indeed shonen or shoujo .... but the ones that have been mentioned are for older audiences (shonen would be more like Daragon Ball , Naruto , Bleach , One piece etc.) but yeah there is more directed towards teens , like all teens around the world tend to have more free time/spend more money and so on. But still there is still a bigger market for older audiences compared to what western media offers (which doesnt even catters to teens-adults, but children most of the time)

Yep, the answer is anime. It might take a bit of looking to find what you like but the suggestions in this thread so far are pretty good. My recent favorite (from Netflix) is Attack on Titan. Been watching Psycho Pass and it's enjoyable too. If you want an all time great go with Cowboy Bebop.

I remember some cool cartoons on MTV in the late 90's like The Maxx, The Head, etc.. I think it was part of a block called Cartoon Sushi. Seek some of that out if you haven't seen it, kinda neat but I may just be nostalgic as I haven't watched them recently.

Genndy Tartakovsky went and got himself mixed up with Adam Sandler. Damn shame.

Do you guys know of any anime movies that are in the animation style of Borderlands? Thats something I'd be interested in seeing.

Www.myanimelist.com

You can sort it by action, sci fi, etc. Shows the age ratings too. Anything 17+ is going to have adult content, be it violence or sexual in nature. Each show will have a few different categories listed, any you dont know just look it up. Organise them by score and you have a good place to start! Also, don't discount shounen. Hunter x Hunter 2011 ks ky favourtie anime, and would be counted as a shounen. It's fucking amazing though.

@Marduke hmm... cell shaded you mean? Its kind of a weird one. Try Redline. Its space cannnball run. Batshit crazy. Or Freedom. Same character designer as akira, nut its done with CGI so it has that look.

Yo OP, Have you ever watched any of the old MTV stuff? Like aeon flux or the maxx? Most of it isn't as straight forward as samurai jack or the clone wars was but they both have sci fi or fantasy elements like you described and considering the subject matter they're defiantly not for kids. They can come off strange at first but they're both pretty cool. I dont really think what your looking for is just straight anime like these dudes are talking about but if you want a good dark fantasy show similar to game of thrones try Berserk, it's mostly action and less political intrigue but it's got elements of that too. But I'd start there and see if you like it.

Both of the shows you mentioned were genndy tartakovsky joints so if you haven't seen it you should check out sym biotic titan, it's his latest show it only got one season but it was still pretty cool

For western animation Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra can not be recommended enough. They are phenomenal.

I would also recommend Young Justice from a couple of years ago. It basically a more mature and serious Teen Titans and its really good.

Also the Adventure Time resurgence in western animation has been pumping out some interesting things. I would highly recommend Adventure Time if you haven't seen it yet.

From that boom I hesitantly recommend Gravity Falls which is kind of a Lovecraftian Mystery. The reason I hesitate to recommend it is because the show has had the most ridiculously inconsistent release schedule I have ever seen. It seems like Disney is trying to actively kill it.

And space dandy. Space dandy is for everyone. Current season is some lf the best stuff I have ever watched.

I just finished watching Psycho-Pass. If you're looked for something that's animated, recent, and squarely aimed at adult audiences, Psycho-Pass should be on the very top of your list. Sadly, Western animation doesn't seem too keen on making more dramatic works in animation, so a pretty big portion of what you'll have to look for is Japanese. And for the love of God, don't write it off because you irrationally hate anime.

Samurai Jack and Star Wars: The Clone Wars may have elements that adults can enjoy, but they are aimed largely at younger crowds.

Also this. Japan has different ideas of what can be shown to kids. Fullmetal Alchemist is considered a shonen, but there's way too much blood in that show for Cartoon Network to cut it down enough to fit in with their afternoon and evening shows. Also note that Neon Genesis Evangelion is considered a shonen. Things that fit into the Shonen demographic can certainly have plenty of things for adults to enjoy and they are far less restricted than equivalent Western animation. My avatar is a shonen character!

There's also seinen, which is aimed toward 18 and up. Psycho-Pass, Serial Experiments Lain, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, and Baccano are seinen shows.

Legend of Korra might look like standard anime at first, but the watercolored backgrounds and the incredible choreographed fights set it apart. Two of the episodes from season two have a different style and have some of the most beautiful art and animation I've seen on television. If you're looking for western animation, some of the Marvel/DC stuff from a few years back is pretty great too. Spectacular Spider-man, Young Justice, and Avengers: Earth's Mightest Heroes are all fantastic. Spider-man in paticular is probably the best interpretation of the character in a while. It's a shame that Marvel has decided to go in a different, lower quality direction with their animated shows.

why is matt rhode's work beside Genndy's Tartakovsky's work?

It's funny that people mention anime when talking about variety in animation. I'm bored of the character designs and tropes most of them have.