Best R-Rated Animated Movies

Summary

Animated movies for adults are now more prevalent and not restricted to just G ratings, offering diverse and mature content.
R-rated animated films like "Batman: The Killing Joke" and "A Scanner Darkly" tackle themes of violence, sex, and dark subject matter.
Cult classics like "Heavy Metal" and "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust" offer stunning animation, gore, nudity, and intricate storylines for adult audiences.

It used to be that animated movies had a consistent G rating, with little variation other than unrated or niche movies like Fritz The Cat or the occasional bootlegged anime. In the last two generations, however, the attitude towards anime as a way to entertain kids has changed and there are plenty of animated movies designed and intended solely for adults.

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By David George Morten

The R rating applies to movies that are "restricted" to viewers 17 years of age or older, but it's not the same as NC-17, which is what replaced the old "X" rating. Don't be lulled into complacency by the fact that these are cartoons and must be less shocking than live-action movies with the same rating.

6 Batman: The Killing Joke

IMDb Rating: 6.4

Directed By: Sam Liu
Written By: Brian Azzarello
Starring: Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Tara Strong, Ray Wise
Release Date: July 25th, 2016

Violence, sex, torture, nudity, and the festering criminal underworld of Gotham City are no joke, and neither is this adaptation of the comic book by the same name. The written version is equally infamous for its brutal and unapologetic subject matter and could be the most visceral superhero movie ever made.

The plot of the story revolves around Barbara Gordon and her alter ego, Batgirl, and how she eventually became the Oracle, a different kind of crimefighter than the typical masked vigilante. Her journey begins when she catches a criminal with Batman's help and then shifts to the Caped Crusader's pursuit of the Joker after an attack that leaves her paralyzed.

5 Heavy Metal

IMDb Rating: 6.6

Directed By: Gerald Potterton
Written By: Daniel Goldberg and Len Blum
Starring: John Candy, Harold Ramis, Marilyn Lightstone, Eugene Levy
Release Date: August 7th, 1981

A cult classic in every sense of the word, from the unique animation to the soundtrack and memorable characters, Heavy Metal also has its share of extreme violence and gratuitous nudity. It's science fiction, fantasy, and horror with a rockin' soundtrack and a crazy story about a magical space-time fluid that grants the imbiber immortality, and it was popular enough to inspire a sequel that was released in 2000.

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The appearance of the Loc-Nar, a mysterious green orb that calls itself "the sum of all evils" is what drives this plot, and if that sounds odd, buckle up because it only gets exponentially weirder and more complicated. This evil orb has influenced various people and cultures throughout space and time, and the key to its demise is a magic sword, a mute warrior, and the power of reincarnation.

4 A Scanner Darkly

IMDb Rating: 7.0

Directed By: Richard Linklater
Written By: Richard Linklater
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder
Release Date: July 7th, 2006

This movie is based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, the same author responsible for When Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, which has been adapted into the Bladerunner franchise. Technically, this is an animated movie, but it's not done with conventional cells. Instead, it was shot digitally and animated using interpolated rotoscope that animators drew over frame by frame.

The plot revolves around a drug called Substance D, a highly addictive substance that causes bizarre and grotesque hallucinations. Bob Arctor, played by Keanu Reeves, is an undercover agent tasked with infiltrating the drug's criminal underworld but is dealing with being addicted to it himself.

3 Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

IMDb Rating: 7.6

Directed By: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Written By: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Starring: Hideyuki Tanaka, Kōichi Yamadera, Megumi Hayashibara (original Japanese)
Release Date: September 23rd, 2001

More than two decades later, the animation in this classic action and horror movie is still gorgeous. There's the usual Gothic vampire aesthetic mixed in with the same weird, post-apocalyptic science-fiction setting from the first movie, which was released in 1985, Vampire Hunter D.

The main storyline is about the doomed love between vampire lord Meier Link and his human fiancé, Charlotte, and their attempt to escape the hunters and flee to the City of Night. Nobody escapes D, however, and the ending is a bitter one.

2 South Park: Bigger, Longer, And Uncut

IMDb Rating: 7.7

Directed By: Trey Parker
Written By: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Pam Brady
Starring: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mary Kay Bergman, Isaac Hayes
Release Date: June 30th, 1999

On top of being a raunchy satire that is peppered liberally with curse words and gross-out jokes, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut is also a great musical. Its liberal use of swear words is what gives it an R rating, as if swearing was as bad as gore or sex, which was part of the point that Trey Parker and Matt Stone were trying to make.

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Terrance and Philip, those raunchy Canadian comedians, are spreading foul language and toilet humor to the otherwise innocent pure minds of this quiet mountain town. While the kid's parents are off fighting a cause, however, Satan and Saddam Hussein have their own plans to exploit the political turmoil.

1 Akira

IMDb Rating: 8.0

Directed By: Katsuhiro Otomo
Written By: Katsuhiro Otomo and Izo Hashimoto
Starring: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Taro Ishida
Release Date: July 16th, 1988

Akira is one of the first movies that most people think of when it comes to the strange, extreme, or horrifying. The setting is a post-Apocolyptic version of Tokyo that's ruled by violent motorcycle gangs, and what bubbles underneath in a secret government lab is even more grotesque and sinister.

As the movie unfolds and leans even more into body horror and psychological strain, more of the mystery unfolds. It seems that the use of atomic weapons has mutated some people to have devastating psychic powers, and the movie is named for the person that the government was trying to groom as their ultimate weapon until he chose otherwise.