Database consumption refers to a way of content consumption in which people do not consume a narrative itself, nor fragments of it, but rather its constituent elements. The concept was coined by the Japanese critic Hiroki Azuma in the early 2000s to describe how characters and mechanics found in a narrative's "database" are demanded and consumed by fans without trying to compensate for the absence of an encompassing grand narrative, in a manner dependent on personal interpretations. Azuma cites the change in consumption patterns of Japanese otaku content since the late 1990s as a major example of "database consumption", during which the "control" over a franchise shifted from the authors and manufacturers to the fans. Satoshi Maejima suggests that narratives that end inconclusively force fans to turn to database consumption and to "character moe", in which the characters of a franchise become the direct targets of fan affection. Azuma compares this affection to drug addiction and calls it "animalization".