These days, there's no shortage of animation that's aimed at adults. Most adult animation comes in the form of TV shows, and are popular because they provide a different visual experience than other shows aimed at adults that are live action. Animation allows these shows to do things that live-action can't do, and they often include a lot of absurdity and even violence.

Animation aimed at adults tends to lean into the "adult" part a lot, as much of it is snarky and cynical, or graphic, with a simple art style that’s often criticized for being “ugly” (think Rick and Morty or Big Mouth). Animation for children often takes a much softer approach, which makes sense because of the target audience, but it's strange that there's not a lot of specifically adult animation that could be considered calming or beautiful. Western animation should take inspiration from Studio Ghibli and make animated shows and movies for adults that are more slice-of-life, and find beauty in the mundane and in nature.

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Studio Ghibli's target audience is usually children, but their films are made in such a way that they appeal to all age groups, and don't feel like they are solely for kids. This is part of what makes them successful; they're not talking down to their child audience, and they're not trying to appeal to some cynical adult audience. They just tell stories about people and relationships, or magical creatures and adventures, which are subjects that interest everyone, and the tone rarely feels like it's playing to a specific age group.

Ponyo running through water

Movies like Ponyo lean more towards a young audience, while something like Princess Mononoke is a little more intense and not geared towards super young kids. But again, versatility is key. Adults can still watch Ponyo and get something out of it, and kids can still watch Princess Mononoke because it's not too violent or scary as to be made for only adults.

A lot of Western animation, on the other hand, seems to want to draw distinct lines between what's for kids and what's for adults. Kids can't watch the programming that's "made for adults" because it's created to be sexual, or violent, or just discussing areas of adult life that kids might not be interested in. And that's fine for some shows, but it leads to a trend of animation for adults that makes itself as cynical and "adult" as possible just for shock value. There's this idea among some adult audiences that it's amusing to watch these shows because "It's animation but look, they're talking about sex! That's crazy! Animation is for kids!" Perhaps a lot of these shows have grown out of the belief that animation is a juvenile medium, and there's been an attempt to reclaim it for an older audience, but they've leaned too far into that "older" part.

It doesn't help that the animation style often feels uninspired. There are a lot of animated shows for adults that employ very similar art styles, which makes all the shows feel the same. They differ in small ways and have aspects that are unique to them, but overall the styles of shows like Bojack Horseman, Bob's Burgers, and Rick and Morty all feel too similar. It would be really cool to have mainstream adult animation that had a really intricate art style, more akin to Studio Ghibli (though it wouldn't necessarily have to be an anime style specifically).

Bojack Horseman

While some adults enjoy the cynicism that's often present in Western animation, it gets a little tiring after a while. A lot of these shows assume that adults all have this depressing outlook on life, or that there needs to be some giant adventure plot happening in order for things to be engaging. It would be really interesting to see some shows that are just about enjoying the beauty in the small things, or that talks about the importance of nature in the way that a lot of Studio Ghibli animation does. Maybe a show could take the usual messaging of a kid's show and transpose it into a show made for adults.

The problem isn't really even the shows that exist, as some of them do take a less cynical approach, like Bob's Burgers. It's more that all of these shows are starting to feel a little too similar because there was a boom in production of them after studios and TV networks realized that animated shows for adults could be profitable. Something like Invincible is a little closer to distinguishing itself as something different, despite the violence and the simple art style, because the show is still fundamentally about relationships and the protagonist has an optimistic outlook on life. It still doesn't stray far from the typical Western animation for adults, but it has its moments.

It would be great to see more animation that's calming and animated beautifully, rather than a plethora of animated shows that use dirty or snarky jokes in order to signal that they're for an older audience. A lot of adults might actually enjoy sitting through a Ghibli-esque show every week, that isn't about much other than people, or day-to-day life, or nature. Not every show should pivot to this, of course, but it would just be nice to see something different and inspired in a sea of adult animation that feels very cookie-cutter.

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