Toon In: Animated TV Highlights for May, from Love Death + Robots to the Lost in Starlight finale

Welcome to the ink, paint, and pixel corner of Paste TV, where we’re highlighting some of the best premium animation projects on streaming or direct-to-video aimed for teens and adults. This monthly column not only provides an overview of the new animated series to check out, but we’ve also collected some of the finest creators and voice talents in the medium to give updates, or introductions, to their series. Here are the animated shows you need to watch in May.

Blood of Zeus Season 3 (May 8) 

Blood of Zeus, Netflix’s universally praised adult rendition of the very adult Greek myths, returns this month for a third and final season. The serialized drama followed Zeus’ mortal son Heron (Derek Phillips) but he got killed in the Season 2 finale. In the final eight episodes, Heron’s soul will make it to the underworld, so could we see him reunite with daddy in Tartarus? Meanwhile, the King of the Titans, Cronus (Alfred Molina), will come to put his children/gods to task. Powerhouse Animation Studios continues to animate this character drama with dynamic visuals that make this an addictive watch. We’ll be sorry to see it go. 

Love Death + Robots Season 4 (May 15) 

The fourth season of Love Death + Robots, Netflix’s adult animation anthology, returns with 10 new shorts featuring the work of top notch animation studios including Blur Studios, BUCK, Passion Animation, AGBO, Luma Pictures, Titmouse, Aaron Sims Creative and Polygon Pictures. 

As the supervising director for three seasons of the experimental series, Emmy-winner Jennifer Yuh Nelson tells Paste that the show’s reputation and high caliber of animated storytelling has created an even greater pool of talent to source when it comes to commissioning new shorts for the series. 

“The benefit of having a few seasons and a lot of episodes behind us is that we have met and worked with some fantastic directors and studios,” Yuh Nelson says of how they curate their talent. “We, of course, dip back to some of those. But we also have new artists, new studios, and of course new stories.”

In this season, Yuh Nelson details, “We have a cool, live action episode directed by Tim Miller, and a music video—a first for us—by David Fincher,” she says of the new submissions from the series co-creators. “The strength of Love Death + Robots is the variety. It’s as important to us that there is a mix of animation techniques as there are of tones and stories. If there are too many of one thing, that thing loses its specialness. And we want all the episodes to be special.”

And that includes some 2D animation alongside the CG animation. “Robert Valley returns with his signature visual style,” she says of 400 Boys from the Ice Emmy-winner. “And since I love 2D animation so much, I have to mention a fittingly disturbing and beautiful wartime piece [“How Zeke Got Religion”] by Diego Porral and Gigi Cavenago.”

Yuh Nelson also brings a new story into the world. Following up on the success of her previous shorts, “Pop Squad” and “Kill Team Kill,” “Spider Rose” is based on sci-fi author Bruce Sterling’s Shaper and Mechanist universe. 

“It’s a deeply emotional piece,” she says. “For me, emotion is the conduit into a story. It examines grief, connection, and surrender. Plus, it all takes place in zero gravity, which is an absolute beast to animate.”