PRIMAL: Went Too Far Back In The Past & I'm Pretty Sure Dinosaurs and Humans Didn't Live In The Same Time Period

[CarlManvers2019]

Just got to watching the first episode of Genndy Tartavotsky's new show, Primal, a voiceless bloody cartoon about a caveman and his strangely small T-Rex companion surviving in the highly hostile and primitive dog eat dog world where all manner of prehistoric beast roams the Earth

First episode has no dialogue, but quickly establishes the plot and both MC's characterisation and how they end up together

It's a Dog-Eat-Dog World, but that does NOT stop even predators from caring for family, much less gaining friends. As living really IS more than just survival, for these two.

Pretty nice action too, the caveman dude Spear, while enraged is a pretty smart fighter, so's the dinosaur Fang by the looks of it

 

[CarlManvers2019]

Say, anybody else here been watching PRIMAL?

I haven’t seen episode 10 yet, but the series’ 1st/2nd season ends with this, I think

@Shipmaster Sane
You seen it? It’s somewhat similar to Berserk and the Sword&Sorcery genre by having Badass(mostly)Normals with both great physical and mental ability surviving and triumphing over dangerous and strange situations and lots of melee combat

 

[LifeisTiresome]

I haven't watched the show as I don't watch Western stuff and this is Western.

It's a Dog-Eat-Dog World, but that does NOT stop even predators from caring for family, much less gaining friends. As living really IS more than just survival, for these two.

Yes. This series is correct about this. Western society is heavily affluent. We have people who will throw away hundreds to thousands to streamers for basically nothing.

And yet, are we all happy? I don't believe so.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

I haven't watched the show as I don't watch Western stuff and this is Western.


Yes. This series is correct about this. Western society is heavily affluent. We have people who will throw away hundreds to thousands to streamers for basically nothing.

And yet, are we all happy? I don't believe so.

Dude, no need to bring in your dooming here, just try and enjoy the surprisingly un-WOKE and surprisingly weird yet awesome stuff before you

 

[LifeisTiresome]

Dude, no need to bring in your dooming here, just try and enjoy the surprisingly un-WOKE and surprisingly weird yet awesome stuff before you

My apologies. I was not trying to bring in dooming as you call it. I was just saying that what you say this show talks about is correct. I brought up the West cause its a perfect example of that. Anyway, moving on.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

My apologies. I was not trying to bring in dooming as you call it. I was just saying that what you this show talks about is correct. I brought up the West cause its a perfect example of that. Anyway, moving on.

It's okay



I gotta say, I really liked how Spear more-or-less showed respect for this old mammoth

They kill to eat and they eat to live, doesn't prevent them from being surprisingly nice or hesitant



Say, could Bow&Arrow be made in Stone Age societies?

 

[CarlManvers2019]

Spoiler: Slave of The Scorpion; Bow & Arrows, I was right in my guess

Yup, bow&arrows are now a thing thanks to our new character Myra

Also, makeshift hammers/maces thanks to the tribe of crazy ape men

And now steelworks, fabric and boat&sail thanks to a much more advanced civilization across the waters who enslave other peoples

 

[Shipmaster Sane]

@Shipmaster Sane
You seen it? It’s somewhat similar to Berserk and the Sword&Sorcery genre by having Badass(mostly)Normals with both great physical and mental ability surviving and triumphing over dangerous and strange situations and lots of melee combat

People: Berserk is an action series

Me:

 

[CarlManvers2019]

People: Berserk is an action series

Me:

I counter that with this

 

[Shipmaster Sane]

I counter that with this

You're missing my point I think. Berserk is a Romance.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

You're missing my point I think. Berserk is a Romance.

Sure, whatever

That said, really gotta love these sorts of guys. The Badass-Kinda-Normal dudes who constantly fight and use their heads to survive sorts before moving away to the next place without a map or clear method to their goal.....getting Samurai Jack S5 memories now

Anyway, hope you like PRIMAL



I'm betting the black liquid will appear again soon in the next season

 

[Syzygy]

I like it.

I grew up during the paleontological transition of upright reptiles to Jurassic Park standard, so I have a soft spot for dopey-looking dinosaurs. Primal hits a weird blend of the two, leaning more towards the 90s revelations on saurian anatomy and behavior, that tickles my fancy. There's a mythic quality about the monstrous lizards of outdated paleoart that modern research has lost; dinosaurs are still fascinating creatures, but they're no different than animals we might see today, if much larger. Primal allows its prehistoric creatures to be animals while preserving the otherworldly quality by playing up the supernatural. Basically, it's the best of both worlds.

Some people were upset by the finale's revelation of a larger world beyond what the series presented: a low-fantasy neolithic fight for survival. We don't get much media that is firmly prehistoric in scope, so the disappointment is understandable, but as a huge fan of Robert E. Howard and Burroughs' Pelucidar series, I'm looking forward to the second season. If there is anything that Genndy does well its cool things for their own sake, so if anyone can pull off a neanderthal and his tyrannosaur companion tearing through low-fantasy Iron Age civilizations it's him.

Regarding Berserk, there is a substantial tonal difference between the two series. In Primal life is tough because everything is big and hungry or juiced up on dark magic. In Berserk life is tough because people are terrible. So terrible that humanity willed an evil god into existence as explanation for their suffering and it only served to kick their torment into high gear. Both have blood and guts aplenty, but the latter is a downward spiral into oblivion with only the odd hero to slow its descent.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

@Syzygy
I’m betting that the civilization that will be shown in the next season may not be that advanced or simply put, it will rely very heavily on slave labor or manual labor for everything

Spear might invent some things that save up time

Or it takes up quite a lot of time and resources for all that metal and they’re doing the “kaingin” method and constantly running out of proper space

That said, in-regards to Berserk, my bet is that the "Idea of Evil" will die....but people will still be shitty....but they can also be kind

https://images.mangafreak.net/mangas/tokyo_ghoulre/tokyo_ghoulre_176/tokyo_ghoulre_176_8.jpg

https://images.mangafreak.net/mangas/tokyo_ghoulre/tokyo_ghoulre_176/tokyo_ghoulre_176_9.jpg

https://images.mangafreak.net/mangas/tokyo_ghoulre/tokyo_ghoulre_176/tokyo_ghoulre_176_10.jpg

Tokyo Ghoul may have been made with some inspiration from Berserk, just so you know, all three(Berserk, Primal and Tokyo Ghoul)maybe pretty far from each other in concept

But whether intentionally or unintentionally, they give this "feel" of even if the world IS crappy, it's NOT evil or outright malicious, it simply is, and even in a very cruel world, you can still find your lights and get people you like hanging around with whether you admit it or not

Spear and Fang have each other, after losing both their families, and even in a dog-eat-dog world other characters are shown caring for one another like that Coven and those White-Apes

 

[CarlManvers2019]

Anybody have any thoughts or predictions for PRIMAL?

Because I believe the series has an actual end point and is right now transitioning from the whole “This is the threat of the week” to “We have to reach the Big Bad and save everyone or mainly her”

One prediction I have is that Spear & Fang will end up destroying or scattering that entire Iron Aged civilization, and yes I’m thinking Iron because of the color of those arrowheads near the finale

Spear will figure out how to build a boat or canoe that can support him and Fang, to get where they need to be

The Iron Age slaver-civilization does human sacrifice in addition to slavery, it’s also the remnants of another civilization and thus pretty small relatively speaking and does slave labor mostly to rebuild fast

The Iron Age civilization will be first truly encountered when Spear sees an outpost wherein they look for and raid primitive human tribes and hunt the large animals who are relatively easily killed due to their more advanced weaponry, some even captured and tamed with nets and chains

Spear will find other primitive human tribes and/or lead a slave rebellion that results in many killed

Along the way, Spear & Fang have to fight aliens

Also, more references to Aku from Samurai Jack even if him actually crashing would have caused an ice age after having killed the dinosaurs

And maybe an encounter with an Eldritch Horror that has them terrified, but their NOT!Civilized minds results in them just hitting it till it stops being weird

 

[Syzygy]

Sharpen your spears and hold on to your butts; it's time for An Age Undreamed Of.

 

[Urabrask Revealed]

Looks like S2 will lean even more into the supernatural side of the show, with this gigantic satanic creature and what have you. Trips to the Pict and Babylon are obviously planned, with the painted barbarians and these helmed archers.

 

[Syzygy]

It's probably the closest I will ever get to a faithful animated adaptation of Kull, Conan, or Bran Mak Morn, and in the current social climate that is a mercy. The supernatural does seem to be much more than peripheral elements based on the teaser, but I hope it is merely skewed perception taken out of context. The literal manifestation of a malicious deity is too blatant for my taste; gods among mortals, especially cruel ones, is a difficult scenario to write around. Not to say that it cannot be done (The Devil in Iron), but the scope presented in Primal would seem a little silly if some barely civilized neanderthal stops an eldritch horror by stabbing it with a pointy stick. I'd much prefer the giant demon be manifest in the deeds of its devotees, with it's individual presence being a psychological/spiritual vision, rather than a big stompy monster.

That being said, I can still roll with a caveman punching out Cthulhu (The Slithering Shadow and Call of Cthulhu itself being fine examples). Primal is fun.