If you want better writing quality
Choose Dark Winds, Season 4. It scores 4.8 vs 2.5 for writing quality, with a 4.4 overall score.
Mating Season, Season 1 Review
Bottom Line
Choose Mating Season if you want raunchy adult animation with strong voice acting, oddball animal dating jokes, and some sincere friendship arcs. Skip it if repetitive sex humor, thin depth, or crude content turns you off.
Best for
Best for Big Mouth fans and adult-animation viewers who like fast, filthy relationship comedy with a warm friend-group core. It also has appeal for viewers looking for queer dating arcs in a surreal animated sitcom.
Not for
Not for viewers who dislike explicit sexual humor, profanity, cartoon gore, or gross-out gags. It is also a poor fit for anyone wanting subtle satire, family-friendly animation, or a major leap beyond familiar rom-com formulas.
Verdict
Mating Season Season 1 lands as a polarizing Big Mouth-adjacent adult animated rom-com. Its clearest strengths are the voice cast, the core friendship dynamic, and the animal-specific twists on dating, sex, and loneliness. Supporters find it funny, bingeable, queer-inclusive, and occasionally heartfelt, especially when Penelope and Fawn get more emotional material. The tradeoff is that many critics and YouTube reviewers think the show leans too heavily on repetitive gross-out sex jokes, familiar rom-com beats, and thin commentary. It has enough energy and cast appeal for fans of crude adult animation, but its raunch can overwhelm the story.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
43 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.010 (23%)
-
Positive 3.5-4.410 (23%)
-
Neutral 2.5-3.417 (40%)
-
Negative 1.5-2.42 (5%)
-
Very negative below 1.54 (9%)
Pros highlights
-
The core friendship chemistry works for many viewers, giving the raunchy premise a warmer hangout-sitcom feel. Negative reactions argue some romances and early group dynamics lack enough believable connection.
-
Voice acting is one of the clearest strengths. Even mixed reviewers repeatedly single out the ensemble, especially Zach Woods, June Diane Raphael, Sabrina Jalees, and Nick Kroll, as energetic and well cast.
-
The series can surprise viewers with loneliness, insecurity, and friendship beats beneath the animal chaos. Still, several viewers feel the emotion is lighter than Big Mouth or gets punctured by jokes too quickly.
-
Dialogue swings between polished, quick, and conversational for fans and gratingly crude for detractors. The best-liked lines are smaller throwaways, while the most disliked ones spell out jokes too aggressively.
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Queer and relationship representation is a notable bright spot for several viewers. Penelope’s lesbian self-discovery and the show’s open treatment of varied sexualities receive strong praise.
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As adult animated sex comedy, the show satisfies viewers already tuned into Nick Kroll’s style. Others think it fails to balance raunch, romance, and commentary enough to stand out in the genre.
Cons highlights
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Humor is the show’s biggest split: fans call it hilarious, bold, and well-timed, while detractors find the sex jokes repetitive, lazy, or gross without enough payoff. Enjoyment depends heavily on tolerance for crude adult animation.
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Character work is the main divider. Supporters like Penelope, Fawn, and the friend group as messy but lovable; critics say Josh, Ray, and some arcs stay underdeveloped or reset too easily.
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Overall enjoyment ranges from must-watch enthusiasm to total rejection. Positive viewers enjoy the cast, pace, and weird relationship comedy; negative viewers find it boring, repetitive, or not worth the time.
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The animal-world dating hook gives the series a memorable angle, but many writers feel it leans too hard on familiar rom-com and adult-cartoon formulas. The most positive takes credit the animal behavior twists for adding freshness.
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The look is highly divisive. Some praise the bright forest backgrounds, expressive animation, and eventual charm of the designs; others call the style corporate, ugly, or uninspired.
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Sexual content is the defining trait, and approval depends on taste. Fans call the raunch bold or surprisingly balanced; detractors say it overwhelms story, humor, and comfort.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other TV Shows, this product is above average in realism, continuity, cultural representation, near average in acting quality, educational value, below average in violence level, animation quality, age appropriateness.
Comparison summary
43 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher7 (16%)
-
Same as average within 0.3 pts9 (21%)
-
Below average 0.4+ pts lower27 (63%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| violence level | 1.0 | 3.3 | -2.3 |
| animation quality | 2.2 | 4.2 | -2.0 |
| age appropriateness | 1.0 | 2.7 | -1.7 |
| realism | 5.0 | 3.4 | +1.6 |
| language level | 1.0 | 2.5 | -1.5 |
| theme depth | 2.7 | 4.0 | -1.2 |
| humor | 2.9 | 3.9 | -1.0 |
| character development | 2.8 | 3.8 | -1.1 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better visual style
Choose It’s Not Like That, Chapter 1. It scores 4.8 vs 3.2 for visual style, with a 4.5 overall score.
If you want better theme depth
Choose The Testaments, Season 1. It scores 5.0 vs 2.7 for theme depth, with a 3.8 overall score.
If you want better entertainment value
Choose Berlin and the Lady with an Ermine, Chapter 2. It scores 4.8 vs 3.2 for entertainment value, with a 3.8 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
Big Mouth
- Better: expected popularity The review doubts Mating Season will match Big Mouth’s scale even while warming to it.
- Similar: crude comedy appeal The reviewer says people who enjoyed Big Mouth’s comedy are likely to enjoy Mating Season’s humor too.
- Compared: creative lineage and raunchy tone The review frames Mating Season as unofficially related to Big Mouth, sharing creators and raunch without matching its insight.
Bojack Horseman
- Better: animation quality The reviewer says Bojack Horseman looks much better than Mating Season.
- Compared: visual style The reviewer wishes Mating Season looked more like Bojack Horseman instead of using an overdone adult-cartoon style.
- Better: season-one payoff The reviewer says Mating Season does not deserve the patience they would give Bojack Horseman.
Family Guy
- Compared: adult animation formula The review sees the show as chasing a dated Family Guy-style provocation that no longer feels fresh.
FAQ
Is Mating Season Season 1 like Big Mouth?
Yes, many reviewers describe it as sharing Big Mouth’s raunchy tone, creative team, and joke rhythm. It shifts the focus from puberty to adult dating and animals, which some find fresh and others find less meaningful.
Is the show funny?
It depends on your tolerance for crude comedy. Fans call the jokes bold, polished, and hilarious, while detractors say the sex jokes become repetitive and lazy.
How strong is the voice cast?
The voice cast is one of the season’s clearest strengths. Zach Woods, Sabrina Jalees, June Diane Raphael, Nick Kroll, and several guest voices receive repeated praise.
Does the season improve as it goes?
Several reviewers say the first episodes are rocky but the back half and finale are stronger. Others remain negative throughout, especially when the raunch keeps dominating the story.
Is Mating Season appropriate for kids?
No. Multiple sources point to frequent sexual content, strong language, drinking, crude body humor, and violent cartoon moments, making it adult-oriented despite being animated.
What is the biggest weakness?
The most common weakness is balance. Critics often say the show has promising relationship ideas and characters but relies too much on gross-out sexual humor and familiar sitcom plots.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
YouTube - Cinephilia
Article Reviews
thegameofnerds.com
- Review score
- 4.4
polygon.com
- Review score
- 2.8
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