Summary
The country is in disarray, and one man is trying to help his friend find his place there—great comedy with quirky characters and relatable content.
This World Can’t Tear Me Down is an adult animated series created by Italy’s most beloved cartoonist, Zerocalcare, and is welcomed to Netflix by many fans. The series is based on his graphic novels of the same name.
In 2021, Netflix released Zerocalcare’s first animated series, Tear Along the Dotted Line, giving audiences a glimpse of the characters’ complex worlds and personalities. Fun fact: the pen name Zerocalcare leans “zero limescale” and was inspired by a TV advert. This information (which I hope is true) made me laugh.
Zerocalcare voices himself (Zero) and other characters, such as Sarah, and is accompanied by Valerio Mastandrea, voicing Armadillo. We’re introduced to a fresh character called Cesare. The voice-over acting is great, especially the Welsh friend and complex cockney characters.
This World Can’t Tear Me Down Brings Important Themes and Messages
The story is one of friendship and identity. Zero’s friend returns to his neighborhood after years of being away. Things are very different; he wants to help his friend feel at home and find his place in the world.
Our protagonist struggles to help him make correct, good choices in life and faces the question, should he help him? It’s portrayed as Zero speaking one monologue and taking us through events.
The central theme of this work is to show audiences the difficulty of finding your place in the world and trying to remain oneself while facing life’s troubles.
The series’ clever writing picks apart modern political problems in society and pokes fun, making light of what we’re all going through. There are deep political undertones, and the series is thought-provoking.
I wasn’t laughing out loud, don’t get me wrong, but some parts made me smirk and giggle, and there were a few solid scenes where I did laugh. There’s the use of drugs, sexual references, dick jokes, and lots of swearing, so it is definitely made for adult audiences.
I enjoyed the animation and the characters. The animals, such as his mum being a chicken (I think), are that kind of zany, insane madness animations can get away with. They even have a Pterodactyl friend. It also has a decent soundtrack if that’s what you’re into.
The series is entertaining, with quirky characters, an interesting, relatable storyline, and excellently animated voice-over acting.
With six episodes and a runtime of roughly thirty minutes, this series is worth investing in, especially if you’re an animation fan. There’s a lot of content, some complex, thrown into thirty minutes, and everyone speaks fast, so you do have to be actively watching.
It’s not something to have on easy in the background. You can’t miss anything — not that you’d want to.
