Why are recent cartoons either science fiction, surreal, and/or fantasy?
 

I noticed a recent trend going on in modern day cartoons. From 2010 and onward, most cartoons are of the fantasy, surrealism, and/or science fiction genre. I think the trend started when Adventure Time became popular and mainstream. After all, it started in 2010.

Will slice-of-life and realistic shows ever become noticed to the general demographic? Or will it become rare? Will today's shows fade in popularity? Or will it be popular for a long time?

Discussion below.

I don't know, since I don't watch American cartoons these days and stick to anime. But I'm guessing it's because they're the genres that make the most money now? Just like some years ago, there were live action tv shows set in hospitals and about police investigation everywhere. It's cyclical, I guess.

Because modern society is on the decline & people need more fantastical things to escape it.

What do you mean by slice of life? I guess the Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, King of the Hill and South Park?

Or do you just mean shows that take place in a more real world setting?

I have no idea, but since I love that kind of stuff I'm all for it.

Simpsons,Family Guy, South Park, etc. target a different demographic than the likes of Adventure Time, Ben 10 and such.

I'm more disappointed over the fact that the most "adult" American cartoons are always comedies. There should be more variety like in anime.

Because trends exist.

I haven't really noticed this. The same superhero shows that exist today are the same type of shows that have always been around, (new Batman cartoon, new Spiderman cartoon, new TMNT cartoon, etc).

Besides Avatar debuted in 2005 which is now a decade ago, and that was fantasy based more or less.

Mostly the latter. Slice of Life depends mosly on mundane realism in everyday life. In the genre, characters mostly take part in normal, real-life activities such as going to school, get a job, etc.

I always found "slice of life" to be a very vague term for a genre. For some reason, plenty of anime seem to fall under the "slice of life" category. And that doesn't really tell me what they're actually about.

A "slice of life" anime sounds really boring. :P

I found Ristorante Paradiso and especially Bartender to be pretty enjoyable. Apparently, they fall under the category.

Not at all. In fact, many of the most popular anime series are of that genre. Just because it's daily life doesn't mean it can't be creative. For example, K-on! is a slice of life show & it's about an all girl rock band's practice sessions, concerts, vacations, etc. Shirokuma Cafe is about a world where animals & humans live together & communicate in the same tongue, working regular jobs & having zany adventures. Then you've got your typical school setting stuff like Nichijou, but it's not tests & studying, you'll see the principal get into a fight with a wild deer, a toddler scientist with a robot caretaker & talking cat, etc. Anything can happen in these slices of their lives. Doesn't have to be grounded in reality by any means. Sometimes it's the daily life of demons/wizards or galactic soldiers. It can be whatever you want. :)

I didn't care much for K-ON!. Then again, I'm not much into the "moe" thing.

I meant the typical, mundane "slice of life" scenarios, guys. But thanks for pointing out some creative examples. I'll check them out.

Sym-Bionic Titan could be considered slice of life; an alien princess, her bodyguard and a robot are sent to Earth to pose as teenagers to hide from a war happening on their home planet. They go to school, make friends, go on dates, go to parties, etc. But they also fight invading monsters with a giant robot they all control. :P

Clarence exists. There's an episode where he goes to the grocery store.

Why would we want to see stuff like that when we see it every day? Fantasy and sci-fi shows are a way for us to get away from all the mundane sh*t that goes on in our lives.

Cause it's popular.

/thread.

Yeah, this is pretty much the best explanation.

I'm with ya on that one.

The entire reason cartoons and comics exist, is to have things happen that simply couldn't happen in real life, or be reproduced in live action. So it tickles me when people want to take a medium based primarily on presenting the extraordinary, and make it mundane. There's other, better places to get that kind of thing.

Like yeah, you could potentially turn something like Tuesdays With Morrie into an animated series, but it seems like a colossal waste of time on every single count.