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Four of my favourite 2D animated shows from the past few years
I can personally attest to Pantheon and Scavneger's Reign (although I haven't watched the newest season of SR yet).
Pantheon is very much a show of morals versus "progress". The end is a WILD ride.
Scavneger's Reign is about people on a foreign planet and using the planet's resources to survive and possibly escape. The alien fauna is downright incredible to imagine. Another stellar show.
I'm sorry, "newest season" of Scavenger's Reign? It was very famously not picked up for a second season despite winning awards and audience petitions.
If you know of more that's out there other than Season 1, please share with the class, because all I've seen so far is a short 2 minute teaser that the creator animated when trying to get season 2 approved.
Unless they mean season 2 of Pantheon.
Well fuck me then. I could've sworn I saw a season 2, but you're right. Only the one season.
Dude. Pantheon blew my mind. I have several scenes burned into my mind forever (Chanda being scanned).
I love all four that you posted, but I can't remember the last time a show stayed with me as well as Pantheon did 🤯
The body horror combined with existential dread of the chanda scanning scene hits harder than anything else I've seen, it's definitely burned into my mind as well. Having experience with seeing the effects of a traumatic brain injury on a loved one made it so much more emotionally impactful as well, and anyone who has experience with neurological disorders/diseases would be affected by it as well because of the visceral realism. Whoever directed that scene has definitely seen someone with progressive aphasia before.
Pantheon is one of my favorite shows ever. It's so so good. I both want more people to watch it and for it to remain a low-key show that you have to watch the first episode to know what it's about (please just watch the first episode before even looking up the synopsis I promise you will know if it's your kind of show or not from the first episode and it's worth going in blind to experience it that way).
Mighty Nein just began. I recommend watching The Legend of Vox Machina first so you don't have to wait so long.
I'm also looking forward to the coming Captain Laserhawk season (人 •͈ᴗ•͈)
We found Mighty Nein first and are now working backwards through Vox Machina. Looking up Captain Laserhawk now!
I'd also like to throw in
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off - anime version of the movie with all the same voice cast, with a major major twist at the first episode (hint - it's very different from the movie and much more mature while still keeping the same vibes)
Adventure Time - Fionna and Cake - an excellent follow up to Adventure Time. Idk how comprehensible it is to non-adventure time watchers, but it is it's own story that does some cool stuff.
Blue Eyed Samurai - just a great revenge story with gorgeous animation.
Blue Eyed Samurai just kept hitting in different ways. Awesome story, animation, and characters. Much more than I expected.
so many for this list!
A lot of these were very close to being in my personal top 4 of the past few years.
Have you seen 'Knights of Guinevere'? Same creator as owl house. Incredibly well done. Just 1 episode out currently but it was recently greenlit for a full season. Free to watch on youtube
Fuck.
I loved Scavenger's Reign, and now you're telling me I gotta watch these ones too?
Well if I must, I shall.
On top of what OP said, Pantheon is incredible. It's one of the best TV shows ever, and you are required to watch it.
I think there's a lot of similarity between Scavenger's Reign and Common Side Effects. Many of the same people worked on it. Pantheon is also a great slow burn scifi.
Mighty Nein is quite different. It's fantasy, and leans into overt comedy a lot more than the other 3. But still very good.
I thoroughly enjoyed common side effects, and I really liked scavengers reign. Based on this thread I just binged the first season of pantheon and holy fucking shit, everyone needs to watch this.
Scavengers Reign and Common Side Effects share the same creators, and are both very good! It's interesting that they both have themes related to harmony with nature and the various relationships that humans form with it, good and bad.
Pantheon is also fantastic, super heady sci-fi with a lot to say about the modern tech industry, and loads of references to sci-fi classics. It's clear the writers are huge sci-fi geeks and their enthusiasm comes through in the show.
I haven't seen The Mighty Nein but if it's being grouped with the other shows here it must be worth a watch. It does seem like the odd one out of the bunch though since it's fantasy rather than sci-fi like the other 3.
I need to go back and try Scavengers Reign again because Common Side Effects is fucking incredible.
Is Scavenger’s Reign good? I really dig the art style. Reminds me of Moebius.
Ps: I love the character designs of Common Side Effects. Looks absolutely unhinged xD
It's breathtaking
I liked it a lot!
I just looked up the trailer and it looks pretty cool, ngl xD
Thank you for sharing, friend! 🤗
It made me cry, like a lot.
I think another one that's worth adding is Infinity Train. It's targeted at a slightly younger audience, but is a great sci-fi animated show.
Each season follows its own characters with a little bit of overlap.
OP first off Thank you for turning me on to pantheon because I did not get the memo this shit is phenomenal. Idk if it belongs on this list quite since it's a movie and not a series, but a lot of folks have not seen "Mars Express" and it was also a really good animated scifi. Has that detective noir expanse/ghost in the shell vibe.
I know this is a place for animation, but if you enjoyed Pantheon, I highly suggest checking out Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu. The tv show is based off of loosely connected stories from that anthology and the stories are great. Another short story was turned into the episode Good Hunting on Love, Death, and Robots.
Edit: corrected Love, Sex, and Robots to Love, Death, and Robots
Love, Sex, and Robots
is that the porn parody of Love, Death, and Robots? ;-P
Hah! Probably.
You do have the correct title though :D
In hindsight Scavengers Reign reminds me a lot of La Planète Sauvage.
Common Side Effects was such a stressful watch for me.
They put that turtle in mortal peril every damn episode.
anyone can recommend something with the vibe of scavengers reign ... sci fi, no traditional story arc...
Infinity train. I can’t remember if it’s still available to steam or you have to sail for it, but it’s worth it either way.
If you haven't played Dispatch, it was cowritten by critical role, the team behind Mighty Nein and Vox Machina. Almost positive it was animated in 3D, but looks 2d through its art direction.
Frieren really got me. It can be a bit too much in a couple of episodes, it's anime, but it's great. If you haven't watched, Avatar the last airbender is really a must. Incredible show. Someone mentioned Bojack Horseman, which I concur, but maybe a show for young adults. I was obsessed with Serial Experiments Lain as a teenager, but maybe it's too dated now.
i haven't watched lain in over a decade, but i listened to the theme song a month ago and it's still great.
Common Side Effects sometimes feels like it's drawn over real footage. Not because it's super accurate but the way the camera moves
You have good taste.
Watch both Avatar series if you haven't already. The Vox Machina/Meighty Nein makers are shameless Avatar fans; you'll recognize the references immediately.
Also:
DOTA: Dragon's Blood
DCAU. I'd recommend Justice League, BTAS, and (though technically not DCAU) Young Justice, specifically.
I hadn't heard of any of these but as someone who loves Avatar and enjoyed vox machina I'll have to check them out
Hmm, I might have to check out Pantheon...
Well if we are recommending 2d shows, I gotta rep up Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Season 2 came out just a little while ago and it was as fun as the first season.
Common Side Effects was great. One day I decided to check out an episode or two, and ended up watching the entire season by accident. Scavengers Reign also rules.
Great list, especially Pantheon, it’s one of my favorite shows of all time. The mix of technological ethics, existential horror, conspiracy, and more are done fantastically. I just wish the voice audio mixing was better, but it gets a pass since they were doing it during COVID I believe. It got unduly overlooked due to the streaming weirdness, but I think it’s all on Netflix now thankfully.
If you liked it check out Mars Express, it’s a movie that touches on a lot of similar themes in a cyberpunk/neo-noir context with some amazing animation.
Replace Pantheon with The Legend of Vox Machina.
Have you seen Pantheon? I've only seen a few episodes of Vox Machina but Pantheon is legitimately great and very interesting, though also completely different tone and vibe wise.
Mighty Nein and Scavenger's Reign are defo two shows I go above and beyond to pirate, and could even justify a direct donation to the creators. Mighty Nein is set in the same universe as Vox Machina and uses the same cast of voice actors, to boot.
Another ones I really like the 2D animation style are X-Men '97, which basically uses a cleaned-up version of the style of the '90s Spider-Man animated series before they went to 3D backgrounds; and Wakfu tho this one does more notorious mixing with other animation styles. There's also timeless classics of 2D animation, such as Samurai Jack.
I have the opposite taste, I like most animated shows, not any of these. Tried a few episodes of each multiple times, hasn't hit/clicked.
Don't remember scavenger's reign, might try that again