“BoJack Horseman” is a show about anthropomorphic animals working in Hollywood. That being said, it’s the darkest show about anthropomorphic animals working in Hollywood I’ve ever seen.

The show stars the titular horse, who starred in a 90s sitcom about a horse who adopts three kids — the show is unironically titled “Horsin’ Around,” — before falling into obscurity and crippling alcoholism after the show’s cancellation. As the show begins, BoJack is attempting to write a memoir that will make people love him again.

Watching BoJack struggle with self-esteem issues, the desire to be loved and his elitism is surprisingly emotional for a show about a horse who wears colorful sweaters. Going into the show, I didn’t expect to actually feel sympathy or empathy for any of the characters, but as ironic as it is, BoJack feels very human.

This is not to say however that the show isn’t funny. In fact it is quite the contrary.

Will Arnett does a wonderful job voicing BoJack and his overall disappointment with life, while letting the supporting characters deliver the humor for him to react to.

And this supporting cast has great depth. Amy Sedaris voices BoJack’s agent, a cat named Princess Carolyn, and delivers a solid performance, while Allison Brie voices BoJack’s main love interest Diane, who is hired to ghost write his memoir.

One of the more shocking performances comes from Aaron Paul of “Breaking Bad,” playing BoJack’s human friend Todd — delivering a great performance after his much more dramatic performances.

By far the funniest roll however is Mr. Peanutbutter, another washed-up star, although he is a very optimistic dog voiced by Paul F. Tompkins and serves as a fantastic foil to BoJack. The show also features such talents as Stanley Tucci, Patton Oswalt, Kristen Schaal, Yvette Nicole Brown and recent Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons.

However, the show does have its shortcomings. The darker and more emotional moments are fantastic, but often follow very crass humor.

This creates a very odd mood, especially considering that the show seems to pride itself on witty humor involving the animals, and making commentary on American media culture. This makes the crude humor feel like an afterthought, put in to satisfy some quota set forth for all adult animated comedies by “Family Guy.”

Despite the sometimes out-of-place humor, the production design on the show is top notch. The animation quality in the show is beautiful, with a very crisp look, with the coloring on some characters having a distinct watercolor feel.

The character designs are charming and provide a lot of characterization to the animals and humans alike. The show also features one of the catchiest end title themes I have ever heard.

“BoJack Horseman” holds up despite this and is a foray into a much deeper and emotional realm of animation. While the show has its problems, it managed to overcome most of them and keep me watching. All 14 episodes are available on Netflix and are definitely worth the watch.

I give this a  4 out of 5 stars because “Bojack Horseman” is surprisingly heartfelt and emotional and delivers more than the usual laughs.

Alex Bertsch is the opinion editor of The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].