The trend of adult animation television shows has recently been heightened since its origin in the ‘90s with the shows of “The Simpsons”, “Family Guy” and “Beeves and Butthead” setting the precedent of cartoon comedy. Although culturally popular series like “Rick and Morty”, “Big Mouth” and “Bob’s Burgers” have taken position to be some of the funniest animated series, they don’t stand close to the relatable dark comedy of “BoJack Horseman.”  

The show taps into today’s culture, bringing light into dark subjects unlike other animated series. Depression, addiction, the “Me Too” movement and the privileges of being American are just some of the concepts in the Netflix original. The show, created by Emmy nominated Raphael Bob-Waksberg, released the its season Sept. 18 with its all-star cast.  

BoJack Horseman is voiced by Will Arnet, his roommate Todd Chavez by Aaron Paul and girlfriend and ghost writer Diane Nguyen by Alison Brie. There’s also vocal appearances of Rami Malek, Angela Bassett, J.K. Simmons, Abbi Jacobson and Lisa Kudrow.  

BoJack Horseman is a former famous sitcom actor now a depressed alcoholic who is trying to get back in “Hollywoo,” with the letter “d” removed from the famous sign as a romantic gesture. Taking place in present day Hollywood, the anthropomorphic animals live together with humans and cameo celebrities.  

His self-deprecating humor and egocentric personality lead to him being alone and rejected by everyone. Each season is about the development of characters with setbacks and improvements, with the most recent season suggesting BoJack is finally getting his career together. 

All the puns of celebrities and institutions is what makes the show worth watching. Warner Brothers is now Warbler Brothers, the head of Penguin Publishing is a penguin, and there are poster appearances of “Quack Demarco” and “Lana del Ney.” 

As a whole, the series is unlike any other cartoon. It’s a realistic continuing series in which one needs to watch the episodes to understand the plot. The interlinking episodes and comedy style is unlike “The Simpsons” or “Family Guy.”  

BoJack’s dark humor of depression, addiction and loneliness is uneasily relatable. While the originators of adult animation make fun of pop cultural and violence, the series is more personal. The self-deprecation makes light of the characters faults, while touching on universal feelings of the hardships of mental illness and life. 

The beauty of this very relatable and hilarious show lies in its jokes and puns. It should definitely be your next series to watch.