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Why are cartoon fans so puritanical about adult cartoons?

Deleted member 35077

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Dec 1, 2017
3,999
Zero315 said:
I see people in here sleeping on Aggretsuko.
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But that's an anime. Like we are specifically talking about western cartoons, because really I don't see similar complaints of cursing, gore, and hard violence being the norm in seinen anime. Not when stuff like K-ON and Hidamari Sketch are also common in seinen magazines.
 

Deleted member 48897

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Oct 22, 2018
13,623
Alcotholic said:
Did we watch the same video?
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Oh wow you're not kidding.

I'm sure there's an aspect of meaning to the fact that this story about a young lady trying to find her way in the world -- despite not being able to get employment she finds fulfilling and livable -- is told as a series of animated vignettes, in a simple storybook style. but what could it be
 
HotHamBoy

HotHamBoy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
16,423
There's a lot of evidence to support that most "adult animation" is actually "14-year-old animation."
 

mrmoose

Member
Nov 13, 2017
21,134
Man before I watched that video I thought someone was complaining that Bee and Puppycat was edgy and I was wondering how bad of a transition to animation that had to be, considering I let my daughter read the graphic novel and she's in middle school.

I think the main thing is we usually consider stuff with profanity or inappropriateness as adult cartoons and stuff without it as kids cartoons, even when some kids cartoons can be surprisingly complex and have a lot of layers that go way over their heads and are obviously for the adults. For whatever reason we don't do that with movies like Star Wars or superheroes which cater to both.

But something like DC Universe's Titans seems like they use swear words, over the top violence, and occasional nudity gratuitously, just because they can (well maybe not the violence, that's ingrained in the show) to show us that it's not for kids, so I can understand the argument. It's not like it's telling a compelling, complex story.
 
Zero315

Zero315

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,184
Castile said:
But that's an anime. Like we are specifically talking about western cartoons, because really I don't see similar complaints of cursing, gore, and hard violence being the norm in seinen anime. Not when stuff like K-ON and Hidamari Sketch are also common in seinen magazines.
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It still fits the bill of being animation aimed at adults that doesn't rely on cheap edgy jokes to be adult. K-ON and Hidamari Sketch aren't aimed at adults in the same way Aggrestsuko is.
 
Rosebud

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
43,462
Alcotholic said:
I guess I don't understand your statement on the matter, because south park is known for crass and juvenile humor that I think mostly appeal to teens. Are you saying South Park, Simpsons, and Bojack are a part of the adult humor that appeal to teens?
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I expressed myself badly. I tried to say that I don't agree people are "puritanical" about adult cartoons because most people like them, regardless of the kind of humor (the 3 I mentioned are pretty different).

But things like this are 100% to teens lol

Mr-Pickles-2014-4.jpg
 
Xe4

Xe4

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,295
Yeah, as has been said I think for many it's less that there are animated comedies with excessive swearing and crude humor, but that those are the only kind of cartoons targeted towards teens and adults that can be made. Don't get me wrong I love many of the cartoons that are aimed more towards adults, but I'll be the first to admit adult cartoon genre diversity (at least in the US) is pretty lacking.

I mean shit, before 2017 there were virtually no major adult action cartoons made at all, and that's not even getting into other genres that will simply not be invested in if animated. Luckily, it has gotten better recently with stuff like Samurai Jack S5, Undone, Castlevania, Primal, etc. but clearly a lot more work needs to be done to separate "adult" and crude humor as genres when in comes to cartoons.
 

UnderNewOwnership

Member
Dec 4, 2017
3,097
The idea that "adult" shows must always have violence, nudity and swearwords, else they're "just for kids" has always confused me to an extent.

Cartoons like Courage the Cowardly Dog or The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack have many extremely dark episodes.
 
OP
OP

SuperL

Banned
Nov 27, 2017
891
The problem with "kids' shows" tackling mature themes is that no one cares. When was the last time you saw a critic rank Adventure Time or Gravity Falls or Steven Universe on their "Top Shows of the decade"?

Look at this. The only shows that ranked are adult cartoons like Bojack and Big Mouth. If you try to make a kids' show more mature, kids don't care and neither do adults.

Also, a lot of these cartoon fans seem to hate the idea of cartoons having sexuality in them period. Why?
 

Deleted member 56803

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May 17, 2019
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SuperL said:
The problem with "kids' shows" tackling mature themes is that no one cares. When was the last time you saw a critic rank Adventure Time or Gravity Falls or Steven Universe on their "Top Shows of the decade"?

Look at this. The only shows that ranked are adult cartoons like Bojack and Big Mouth. If you try to make a kids' show more mature, kids don't care and neither do adults.

Also, a lot of these cartoon fans seem to hate the idea of cartoons having sexuality in them period. Why?
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Man, show one of them Fritz The Cat and see how they react.
 

Deleted member 48897

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Oct 22, 2018
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SuperL said:
Look at this. The only shows that ranked are adult cartoons like Bojack and Big Mouth.
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OK but they also still give mention to Korra at the end -- and eyyywhaddayano, Tuca and Bertie (and Bob's Burgers, which is steeped in cynicism but only uses it as a way to highlight its main characters' persistence in the face of it; it's fundamentally an optimistic show even if its setting isn't) placed higher than Big Mouth or Archer.
 
PaulloDEC

PaulloDEC

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Oct 25, 2017
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Australia
SuperL said:
The problem with "kids' shows" tackling mature themes is that no one cares. When was the last time you saw a critic rank Adventure Time or Gravity Falls or Steven Universe on their "Top Shows of the decade"?
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Why should any of us care whether a show gets ranked as a "top show of the decade" by critics? I know Gravity Falls is a quality show, I don't need some critic to tell me it is.
 
Onix555

Onix555

Member
Apr 23, 2019
3,379
UK
So I decided to take a look at Hazbin since its been getting brought up a lot as of late.

Overall, pretty good. It's extremely teen edgy and I would refrain from describing it as mature, however I still found it to be a fun ride (whether that would hold up over a full series... eh we'll see).
Art and animation style were lovely, giving it a nice cute appeal.
Not enough to say anything about story, could go either way depending on if they can actually produce more episodes.

Hopefully they can get a contract with some sort of company; i'd definitely like to see more of this if possible.
 
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