Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: The Complete Second Season - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: The Complete Second Season



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Genndy Tartakovsky has been known for being a genre bending animated master for some time, giving us the original Clone Wars animated series (which was fantastic btw), the critically acclaimed Samurai Jack (which was refreshed for a 5th and final season 12 years after the show ended), and now his most esoteric and unique entry yet. Primal, a completely dialog free (99.9% at least) adult themed animated show that focuses on a neanderthal man making his way in the world. It’s brutal, a strange slice of life story, yet completely fascinating at the same time.

The ten episode 1st season of Primal blasted us back in 2021, and was one of the surprise hits of the year. Nominated for multiple emmy’s, the show put the audience’s heart through a whirlwind of excitement as Neanderthal Spear (his name) makes his way through a stone age civilization. Ranging from dinosaur attacks, to witch doctors and magic, and even finding love, the show had you on the edge of your seat the whole time, only to leave us with a cliffhanger as we watch Spear’s mate Mira get kidnapped by slavers.

The show starts up immediately afterwards, with Spear going into rage mode at the abduction of Mira. Realizing he can’t swim after her, Spear and his “pet” dinosaur Fang set off building a vessel to track down Mira. Naturally he does so, and the show’s “man vs. nature” theme shifts dramatically, pitting it as more of a “3 of us vs. the rest of humanity” type of theme for the season. The show switches gears fairly dramatically, changing from Spear and Fang trying to make their way through nature and the cruelty of the world, and instead substituting in a more “human” element to the show, especially in the case of the villains and the threat. Now it’s him, Mira and Fang against the wiles and evils of humanity, forcing them to deal with the most cunning villain of all. Another human.

The change up is both a blessing and a curse, as it adds more flavor and diversity to the episodes, but also brings us some of the worst episodes of the season. There’s a dreamlike episode where we shift to a 19th century based location titled “The Primal Theory” that sort of acts as filler (this is the worst ep of the season, though it is still decent) and another dealing with an Egyptian Queen named Ima, which turns into a 3 parter. This is one of the highlights of the ten episode season, and acts as unique juxtaposition against the previously mentioned weakest episode. There are varying pacing and tonal quirks that pop up, but overall this is still an excellent season of Primal. It’s not AS fascinating and singularly impressive as season 1, but the 2nd season does more than enough good to keep my excited for more. Especially with the serialized storytelling that cropped up this go around.




Rating:

Rated TV-MA By the MPAA




Video:

The second season’s animation style looks pretty much identical to the first season (completely hand drawn animation, with rough edges and a sort of gritty rawness to it that is very indicative of Genndy’s style). The 10 episode series is crammed onto a single BD-50, and the results are generally good, although I would give it a half star less than what I gave the 1st season 2 years ago. The images are deep and raw, with blood maroon reds, and muted blues and greens throughout amidst a grim and dark backdrop. I did notice some pretty annoying banding at times, and the deepest and darkest scenes had a tendency to crush. It’s not horrible, but it keeps the image from being truly great at times.







Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track also is pretty much a clone of the first season. There's pretty much no dialog in the entire series (except for Spear screaming Mira's name out a few times) but this is a truly rocking track. Dino roars, screams of victims, the crash of waves upon the shore. It's a brutally blunt and aggressive mix that uses scoring and ambient noise to tell the story sans dialog. LFE is brutal and punishing when called upon, but also knows when to stay back when not needed as well. All of this creates a truly immersive and engaging "alternative" track that doesn't rely on the center channel like we are used to, but focuses on all of the background and surrounding noises that we usually consider as supplementary.




Extras:

• Inside the Evolution

Final Score: ​

I said it in 2021, and I'll say it again. Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal is not going to be for everyone. It's a niche level bit of adult animation that will hearken to years of Heavy Metal or or other alternative niche adult animation that doesn't rely on bewbs, cursing and Game of Thrones violence to get the job done (though this isn't exactly tame). It's pure Tartakovsky, and purely entertaining. The second season's focus on a less intimate gathering of people, and expanding the circle of humans around Spear and Mira make for a more fascinating experinece, but one that seems to be not as potent and impactful as the first season. Nothigng to really be disappointed at, but something different nonetheless

Technical Specifications:

Starring: Aaron LaPlante, Tom Kenny, Laetitia Eido, Jon Olson, Amanda Troop
Created by: Genndy Tartakovsky
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Dutch
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: TV-MA
Runtime: 221 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: April 25th, 2023

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Finally saw the first and second second. Enjoyed both seasons. Great animation.