I dislike animated series, outside of animated comedy, & prefer live actors. Because of the awesome ‘Center Seat’ documentary (only thing I disliked was <I think was last 2-episodes> auction coverage, because just wealthy enough people to store away ‘Star Trek’; instead of just COOP & thus, accessible by all Museums) about ‘Star Trek’ universe’s from very beginning to the release year of the documentary, I know the only serious & mainstream award awarded (I think it was a Emmy) to any ‘Star Trek’ series has ever won, was this series for one of their episodes. I have yet to watch the Emmy winning episode, but still the stories are good to The Original ‘Twilight Zone’ already did that.
I am keep watching the series,
It’s pretty nice if you keep in mind that it’s a product of its time and meant for a younger audience (or at least inclusive of a younger audience).
I’d rank The Animated Series close to the bottom of Trek, but significantly above Discovery and Picard.
Lower Decks, which was an excellent animated show definitely geared toward adults, took quite a few elements from TAS. And since it’s such a short show (like 8 hours in total?) I recommend sitting through it before Lower Decks.