Netflix has made itself the home for many different genres of shows, and the best adult animated shows on Netflix matches up well with any other network or streaming service. While there have been several animated shows for adults on cable television, with Family Guy and South Park both great examples, and the many Adult Swim shows, Netflix has created its competition with award-winning, critically acclaimed results. No longer was adult animation just something dirty that people watched late at night. Now, it was something often deep and smart, but with an adult twist.

The best adult animated shows on Netflix offer something special for fans of the genre. One of the best in the streaming services history has a talking anthropomorphic horse who has depression issues. Others use either anime or groundbreaking CGI animation to tell stories that are at times both disturbing and socially important. Of course, there are also shows like Big Mouth, which keeps the gross-out humor that old-school adult animation is all about, but even those still add something deeper than just fart jokes to deliver life lessons for adults of all ages.

10 Disenchantment (2018- )

Disenchantment Fry and Lisa Simpson Wigs Princess Bean Luci Prince Merkimer

Disenchantment is one of the best adult animated shows on Netflix, and this comes as no surprise since it is from the mind of Matt Groening, the man who created one of the best animated shows in TV history with The Simpsons. While The Simpsons has several adult situations playing out in its long run on Fox, Disenchantment uses Netflix to ensure that it can get as adult-oriented as it wants. Bean is a rebellious and alcoholic princess who is accompanied by her elf companion Elfo and a destructive demon named Luci. The tandem ended up causing more problems in Dreamland than anyone could have expected while also uncovering a great conspiracy.

9 Castlevania (2017-2021)

Castlevania

Castlevania is an anime based on the video game series of the same name, written by comic book mastermind Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan). Originally planned to be a movie, Netflix and Ellis scripted out a series, and it ended up a massive success, leading to four seasons to tell its full story. In this series, Count Vlad Dracula Țepeș is a vampire whose wife was burned at the stake. He decides everyone in Wallachia must pay for it with their lives. It is up to monster hunter Trevor Belmont, magician Sypha Belnades, and Dracula's dhampir son Alucard to stop his reign of terror. The last three seasons received almost universal acclaim as one of the best adult animated shows on Netflix.

8 Inside Job (2021-2022)

The character of Reagan Ridley from Netflix's Inside Job.

Some of the writers, animators, and creators from hit animated shows came together in 2021 to create Inside Job for Netflix. Artists from Gravity Falls, Disenchantment, BoJack Horseman, and Regular Show are all involved in the show in one way or another. Looking like a cross between Rick and Morty and Regular Show, Inside Job comes at a very timely moment in American culture. The show revolves around an organization responsible for covering up the conspiracies that frequently pop-up on sites like Reddit and 4chan. Topical and funny, Inside Job is a good way to catch up on the escalating conspiracies abounding, one of the best adult animated shows on Netflix, although it was sadly (and somewhat controversially) canceled before Inside Job season 2 could arrive.

7 Blood Of Zeus (2020- )

Alexia and Chiron in Blood of Zeus on Netflix.

Blood of Zeus arrived in 2020 and quickly earned critical praise as one of the best adult animated shows on Netflix. The series, as the title signifies, is about the Greek gods, but it takes on a different slant than others in this genre. The main character is one who doesn't exist in Greek mythology, created specifically for the animated series. Heron, a demigod son of Zeus, sets out to save Olympus and Earth and the show bases its story on a story lost to history to explain why it fits outside the classical myths. The series picked up an Annie nomination for its music and a second season was greenlit by the streaming service.

6 F Is For Family (2015-2021)

f is for family supporting cast

F is for Family is about as odd a show to premiere on Netflix as any. While most of the best adult animated shows on Netflix are trying to find new ways to investigate a growing cultural landscape and look through the lens of people so often dismissed, F is for Family instead looks through a classic 1970s sitcom to mine some new revelations. Bill Burr co-creates the show and lends his brand of acerbic comedy to the story. The show is ostensibly about a stereotypical white middle-class family in the 1970s. But the show keeps from becoming a parody of itself by constantly asking whether that old-school way of thinking was ever a good thing, even then.

5 Love, Death and Robots (2019- )

Love, Death and Robots Season 3 Ranked

When Love, Death and Robots first appeared on Netflix in 2019, it was a rush for fans of animation. Each of the episodes in this anthology series are unrelated not just in the story but in tone, duration, and maybe most significantly, visual style. Each short film in the series is supposed to have at least one option from the title as a theme. Some have more than one and some take some time to figure out which of the three nouns is the central theme. There's horror, comedy, fantasy, and something for everyone. Some of it is hand-drawn in cartoony style while some shorts are so visually impressive, it actually becomes difficult to tell if they're even animated at all and not just live-action.

4 Tuca & Bertie (2019-2022)

Tiffany Haddish as Tuca and Ali Wong as Bertie in Tuca & Bertie.

Tuca & Bertie was spawned by the crew who created mega-hit BoJack Horseman, one of the best adult animated shows on Netflix that concluded. So it's a bit curious that Netflix canceled the follow-up after just one season. Even still, the first season of the show is worth it on its own. Tuca and Bertie, who are two female birds, learn and grow in their early 30’s exploring the normal experiences all young adults have as well as some of the more troubling situations women trying to succeed can face. The cancelation was Netflix's loss, as the second and third seasons have perfect 100% fresh scores on Rotten Tomatoes.

3 Arcane (2021- )

Vi fights Silco's minions

Even those who have not heard of Arcane have probably heard of League of Legends. It's one of the most popular and competitive Esports in the world and thanks to Netflix, Arcane brings the story to the world of television. And against a bad history for video game licensed media, Arcane has proved to be a staggering success, one of the best adult animated shows on Netflix. Mixing 2D and 3D animation, the show manages to tell an engrossing story while still hewing close to the source material. Many shows and movies based on video games tend to be cash grabs but the storytelling and character development of Arcane rises above the rest.

2 Big Mouth (2017- )

The-Hormone-Monster-Andrew-and-Nick-on-Big-Mouth

Horrifying character designs don't do a bit to detract from the humor and honesty in Nick Kroll and John Mulaney's Big Mouth. One of the best adult animated shows on Netflix, it's a show that takes an extremely deep dive into the awkward moments of adolescence, while also being a laugh-a-minute and making extremely relevant points about societal views on sexuality and gender. Big Mouth pulls nothing when it comes to the uncomfortable and often disgusting realities that come with puberty. It's a show with a keen sense and appreciation for the time in your life when your body is changing faster than your mind can keep up. But it never forgets that while often scary it's almost as often hilarious.

1 BoJack Horseman (2014-2020)

Bojack and Wanda in BoJack Horseman.

BoJack Horseman may not end up being the greatest animated show in history, but it could be considered one of the best adult animated shows on Netflix. The absorbing plot of a beat-down depressed ex-movie star and his struggles with the mistakes in his life is juxtaposed by the vibrant colors, anthropomorphic animals, and laugh-out-loud puns of the world of the show. There are countless incredible voice acting performances to count but Will Arnett as the title character and Alison Brie as the deuteragonist, Diane Nguyen, gives some of the finest line readings ever heard in animated features of any kind.