Animations have long proved they’re more than children’s stories, having been adapted into some of the most beautiful stories. Therefore, the target audience for animations has changed drastically over the past few decades, with most animated stories now aimed at adults. Cross-generational shows include SpongeBob or Gumball for childhood nostalgia or as a stress-free activity.
Luckily, the production of adult-focused animation has increased as streaming services like Netflix started innovative projects. Arcane is the best example of a Netflix masterpiece, having won numerous awards and turning the stories behind League of Legends into history.
Many other Netflix animations piqued people’s interest, becoming global sensations and attracting millions of fans. Let’s explore some of them.
K-Pop Demon Hunters
K-Pop Demon Hunters is a spectacular show that aired in 2025 and was named the “most-watched original title in Netflix history”. The film draws on a myriad of motives, including Korean heritage, mythology, and demonology, as well as K-pop influences, which make it so interesting.
The story follows Huntr/x, a girls’ K-pop group that also guards the world from supernatural creatures, including the Saja Boys, a villainous group. The inspiration for the girls’ group came from popular real-life groups like 2NE1 and Blackpink, while the animation was produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks.
One of the best things about the movie was the music, which propelled the soundtrack to the Billboard Hot 100 and earned numerous awards. For fans waiting for more related content, creators stated that the sequel, which has been met with much interest, will most likely not appear before 2029. However, they can upgrade their K-pop Demon Hunters collectible collection, which is coming soon to Loungefly and also includes apparel and accessories.
Nimona
Nimona is an overlooked Netflix movie released in 2023. It is the story of Nimona, a teenager with shape-shifting abilities working with Ballister in a medieval-futuristic kingdom. The movie was, however, appreciated for its outlook on LGBT representation, featuring queer characters like Ballister and his boyfriend Ambrosius.
The movie was based on the 2015 graphic novel by ND Stevenson, who is also known for creating and producing the TV series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, another powerful work of LGBT representation that received critical acclaim.
The creator has also stated he’s interested in developing a sequel to the movie, but Netflix hasn’t confirmed the potential continuation yet. Nimona was nominated for numerous awards and has proudly won for the “Best Animated Film”, “Outstanding Achievement for Writing in a Feature Production”, and “Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture”.
Arcane
The TV series Arcane is one of the most acclaimed animated series of the past few years. While the show hasn’t included all the characters from League of Legends, it beautifully intertwines the destinies of some of them. The first season took around six years to develop, but it was worth it for the acclaim and praise it received. The series has respected the original lore up to a certain point, offering screenwriters more freedom to expand the story. Arcane focused on the stories of Violet (Vi) and Powder (Jinx), the sisters born and raised in Zaun, as they navigate growth and separation in a conflicting present.
The show has been rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes for both seasons for all its elements, from the soundtrack to the animation and the emotional feel of the story. The show has created one of the largest fanbases in the world, bringing together League players and regular show watchers. Luckily for them, spin-offs featuring other League characters are in development, so we expect them to be released in the coming years.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep
Following the Netflix series The Witcher, the spin-off The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is a fantasy drama film based on "A Little Sacrifice", the second short story from the original series, written by Andrzej Sapkowski. The film will explore Geralt’s journey amid an age-old conflict between the humans of the sea and the humans of the land, in the midst of a possible war.
The film was produced by a combination of studios, including South Korean animation Studio Mir and Platige Image. Unfortunately, it was received with mixed opinions, especially since Henry Cavill left the original series and was replaced by Liam Hemsworth.
Fans have also noticed several plot issues in the narrative, especially regarding the two main villains, Melusina and King Usveldt. Many other factors led them to believe the production was rushed, which is why the movie wasn’t fully recognized for its potential.
Love, Death & Robots
Finally, Love, Death & Robots takes viewers across multiple universes and stories in an anthology series of individual episodes, each with a different tone but connected by various depictions of humans and robots. It was created by Blur Studio, but many other studios around the world contributed to different episodes throughout the series. The first season was released in 2019 and the fourth season in 2025, making it a long-term commitment for fans around the world. While there’s no clarity around a new upcoming season anytime soon, the series, especially the first volume, was compared to “Black Mirror”, a popular TV series exploring sci-fi technology in near-future dystopias. One of the best things about the animations in the episodes is the hyper-realistic movement, which was mostly created with a mix of animation and motion capture. CGI was also leveraged to generate special effects, but the technique of mapping real actors with a Head-Mounted Performance Capture System was also responsible for many of the characters’ realism.
What's your favorite show?
Animated shows have become more popular among adults lately, especially with producers and animation studios embedding them with real-life stories. Some of these films and series have shaken the world, especially K-Pop Demon Hunters and Arcane, while others are still underrated and waiting to be explored properly, including Nimona. What many of these creations have in common is people’s passion for animating unique stories and proving that the power of storytelling breaks down barriers between movies and animation.
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