

[This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ksyHccgEEU) explains why US
adult animation is almost always comedic. US animation studios transferred
their efforts to television in the years following Hollywood's anti-trust case
(which meant future shorts were less likely to be assured of theatrical
releases), but this was only cost-effective if the animation style was
simplified and the content made child-friendly enough for extensive ad-heavy
re-runs. With the exception of a 1972 series, adult TV animation waited until
_The Simpsons_. Although this series was a risky investment, lessons learned
from its rapid success allowed a transition from expecting adult animation to
be unviable to expecting it to be viable as long as it was comedic, preferably
in a sitcom format.

Clearly, adult anime is in a very different situation and has been for
decades. (One need only look at the lists
[here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Lists_of_anime).) The reason, in
short, is that the historical factors mentioned above are unique details of US
history. A similar overview of the history of Japanese animation, both
cinematic and televisual, would sound completely different and make sense of
the diverse range of adult anime that resulted, including in the present day.

So my question is: what are the key details of that history? (If it's an
inappropriate question here, I might move it to History.SE instead.)

Edit for requested clarity: I'm referring to work with an adult target
audience, without specific implications of sexual or violent content (though
these could well apply in some cases).


CC BY-SA 3.0
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question
anime-production anime-history
Why is adult anime so much less likely than US adult animation to be comedic?