Fuse: Memoirs of the Hunter Girl; the bloody truth.

So, being a parent in the United States is sometimes overwhelming and unforgiving. Our stringent but overly laxed approach to parenting can in ways produce more problems than it can fix in society. It is the parent which resides in his or her pool of guilt, well pretty much for life. Its unnerving and can seem exaggerated but I am here to reclaim bad parenting as effective parenting.

My middle son is dyslexic and yes I have thought about focusing him into the most outrageously priced private tutoring I can find in the metropolitan area but I am always put off by the cost and the elitism which goes with such avenues. While I want my child to progress and gain all the tools needed to become successful, I also want to instill a bit of self determination through working with what we got in life. Now don't get me wrong, he attends a reading program at school and we also work at home with a very scripted program but we are pushing less and less. My biggest breakthrough has been the realization that I perhaps am dyslexic too. In this case, I have asked myself many times; why have I not realized this before? My answer is....who knows. What I do know is that I loved foreign films when I was a kid. Reading subtitles made me feel unique, accomplished and excited to learn about different cultures. My mother took me to see Like Water for Chocolate when I ten at the local theater and of course I was moved.

Well, what I want to get at, is how overly corrective parenting can be too aggressive and harmful. We have all heard about the pressures and lifestyle of those kids who are pushed to the brink. While I am not entirely against kids cramming, I do understand the need to adapt to what motivates them and as a society of individualist, well it gets hard. In response to Detans dyslexia, I hit it hard at the beginning. We drilled and it was so boaring! When he saw the improvements in his grades, he was ecstatic. So now I assess him every once and a while to gauge any weaknesses. For a supplement, we always watch Japanese anime with subtitles. This I think has been an avenue to my unraveling.

Perhaps this is a good unraveling, an exposure to light when taken by the darkness of the American standard. Tonight we watched Fuse: Memoirs of the hunter girl. This is a 2012 Japanese anime made produced by TMS Entertainment, rated PG. First, it is amazing! Second, it is so bloody. Now, one may be put off by the gore but I in a way wanted my kids to see the blood oozing out of a samurai's eye. Most violence children are exposed to, do not show the gruesome reality of how someone can get hurt. The effects in Fuse caused my youngest to shield his eyes. It was brilliant. While him being traumatized isn't brilliant, his reaction was fantastic. So many children I work with are so desensitized by violence that I have discovered at about teenage years, this gets dangerous. So, I want my kids to understand the concept of gore and violence as something real and unpleasant.

FUSE:

Learning Qualities:

Excellent source of bloody truth. Subtitles are easy to fallow and keep child focused. Great historical accuracy regarding Japanese Tokugawa period.

Moral:

The moral is contained in old Japanese culture of a warrior which deals a lot with honor, sacrifice and love. The main character is a girl who has been taught to hunt. Amazingly enough the whole story does not focus on her gender rights which is a relief. She crosses between dressing as a girl and boy to brave society without much strife.

Imagination:

The overall animation reminds me of Ghibli studio, so any child a fan of Totoro or Howl's Castle should find this an easy adjustment. The cultural aspects are told in reference to old Japanese fold lore and thus is represented in how the Samurai's
change face as well as the Fuse, which are a half dog half human. It has many elements of creativity that offer new concepts to Western minds.

Rayman "origins"

To Game Stop we go.

Marmalade is really into gaming, in fact he is a five year old who may need to discuss this with a group of like minded gamers in dire need of recognizing a bit of a self destructive pattern. However, as a five year old, it is hard to reason with his wants. So after months of playing Little Big Planet, he suddenly changed course and grabbed Rayman! I was somewhat extactic in my allergy induced daze but elated that he wasn't screaming or running around the store such as our previous errand at Burlington Coat Factory. OMG.

Now for the game itself, I know it has old school appeal for adults but while watching I am trying to find the appeal from Marmee's point of view. The format doesn't seem to change but the gratification of points accumulated is probably the right amount of extrinsic motivation to keep him at it for at least two days. In a way it is a step up from angry birds and the graphics are stellar. Not to mention the character's are unique. They remind me of the artwork for the book RUMO. The only complaint I have as a parent in the background is the soundbites as well as the repetition of theme music.

Learning Qualities:

The graphics give a visual component to sound.

Moral Qualities:

Rayman has unique characters and has little violence. However the young ladies trapped in cages may bother me however the boys are more likely to enjoy the gaming aspect of this scenario and  not real life. This game focuses on more hand eye coordination than anything else.

Imagination: 

I like to look at how the games allow the child to manipulate and think critically as well as creatively. Overall, the visual appeal allows for the child to respond to different cultural's which are not fully represented but are present. The settle hints of music and how instruments are used is probably more valuable than one may think, especially in a day and age in which playing an instrument or having a music class is a generalized practice.

Overall, I  dig this game and don't mind if the boys veg out to the monotony of Rayman. They work together to get through levels and are exposed to amazing graphics.