Tear Along the Dotted Line

I nearly cried like 5 times. One of the best things I've watched in recent years.

It's like the narrator's brain is a tiny glimpse into the sort of stuff that goes on inside my head too.

It's like paranoia, anxiety & depression in a cartoon. There was a few weird moments but pretty much all of it was relatable.

I could easily watch it over and over again. I've just finished watching it dubbed in English, but I will be watching it in Italian from now onwards.

Did not expect it to be so thought provoking.

Soundtrack was perfect too.

There's only 6 episodes, so it's easy to watch.

Now, I have to give credit to IMDb for recommending this to me because I had no idea this show even existed until a month after it released.

This show is based off of the shy graphic novelist Zerocalcare who is the main character in the show AND the books, his name in English is 'zero limescale" and it was based off of an italian commercial for a descaler product because he quickly had to come up with a name to join the discussion online. He was a protester in the Genoa G8 Summit, so that's why if you watch the show you'll see references to a protest and even references it in some of his books.

But the plot is about Zero explaining his relationship with someone named Alice whom he met in his teens and them traveling outside of the city, it really isn't until the last episode until we find out what's going on but, I won't spoil it here.

But, I'll probably talk a little bit about the characters obviously the first person is Zero: This show tackles anxiety in a very painfully realistic light, and I wasn't really expecting that. Zero may come off as self-absorbing and neurotic and...that's the point, he narrates every single character in this show except one character which I will talk about soon. Because he's basically retelling what happened EXCEPT for the end.

The next character is a bit of a strange one, it's Zero's conscience which is an armadillo which is basically him inside his head. I didn't think I would enjoy him as much as I did because he comes off as a dick sometimes but he sometimes comes off as source of reason (not always though).

Sarah is one of Zero's best friends and she is usually a voice of reason for him but a lot more than the Armadillo. I kinda felt like sometimes she was a bit of a Mary Sue but it didn't really bother me that much.

Secco is another one of Zero's friends who plays online poker and constantly ask people if they want to get ice cream, didn't think I'd like him as much as I did too.

And Alice, oh Alice.... I won't really talk about her because she's sort of the entire plot for this series.

I might as well talk about one of my favorite moments in this show, I think it was in episode one or two.

It's where Zero is sitting on the couch and is trying to find something on Netflix (Yes, a character in a Netflix show tries to find something on Netflix which the show is ON Netflix) and he complains how there's ever 8,000 movies and there's nothing good on, then the armadillo appears and says "Don't say that you won't get anymore work!". That moment genuinely made me laugh and that leads me to my next topic: The Humor.

Now, it painfully combines humor and drama into realistic notes.

I won't really spoil the punchlines or it's drama because they're funny and sadly realistic, but just trust me.

One more thing, I usually watch every single show watch with my mother who is around 52 years old and she ends up really enjoying some of the strangest shows I've ever seen like Harvey Birdman, Everybody Hates Chris, Duncanville and many others.

But, I realised that she didn't really click with this show along with a couple of other people I've mentioned to, which brings me into my next point: This show is not for everyone. Because usually because the style of humor and themes come off as a little off-beat and maybe the weird humor of Calcare might be ridiculous to some, but my mom said she enjoyed it but it wasn't the style of humor she was interested in and that she "Wasn't mad that she watched it but it was okay".

But, yeah give this show a shot.

You'd be glad you did....

Straight up, this show was a random find on netflix for me. The concept sounded interesting, so I wasn't sure what to expect...and thank god for that.

Going in blind for this show is honestly an amazing experience because to be honest? There isn't really many adult cartoons, or animated shows in general that flow the way this one does. Think of quite literally watching animated prose; it's not gonna be for everyone, but it does what does well and uses it to the fullest extent. That fact that most of the show is voiced by the same individual as well makes it more enticing to watch as well, and drew me in more than I'd expected. The show in general has a lot of charm and it's quite witty not just in its comedy-but what it discusses as well.

It's comedic, yet it also balances this sort of humanity with us, touching upon topics that are quite heavy, and the show has this lingering philosophy that's quite thoughtful as well. There we're even a few scenes, particularly one in the final episode, that had me tearing up; even had to take a minute and pause at one point simply because of it's impact (if you're curious, I watched the original Italian with English subtitles).

It's a strange, yet delightful mix of Bojack Horseman and the Midnight Gospel and it's spectacular. If you're someone who's constantly pondering about your purpose in life, or struggle with some form of anxiety disorder or mental illness like me, this show is gonna hut you in ways you don't expect. It's funny, and delightfully, painfully real. Don't sleep on this one, I'M BEGGING Y'ALL.

I admit, due to language and very fast narrative, it's not easy to follow and you will want to hear everything, because it's great! To make matters even harder, every scene is filled up with so many interesting details and you want to see them all. It's a bit too fast, hence 9 stars, but I guess on second or third viewing or at maybe half a speed it would work.

Other than that, I loved it! It has so many details, every sentence is important, it's very funny, but at the same time quite touching. I am not millenial but I still enjoyed it a lot.

A bittersweet portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, steeped in the difficulties of becoming an adult in a stultifying Southern Europe society, where the past matters more than the future -- a society that has little use for its young. However, the discourse of Tear along the dotted line is way more personal than political, and it's full of straight-faced humour and wild imagination, fast paced and with almost no sentimental excesses. After watching it, you'll want to read all the comic books.