Welcome to Critsumption
Since April 2017, Anthony and I have held a weekly tradition of watching anime together over the phone on Saturday mornings.
After Durarara!!, we started watching My Hero Academia (you may have heard of it) without having read the manga. While the episodes aired, our phone lines were silent, punctuated only by gasps and “Oh my God!”s, but afterward our conversations were often focused on analyzing every fight, and every piece of evidence as to what would come next, and is there hope for Bakugo’s redemption?
When we realized we were having essay-length-and-depth conversations in Facebook Messenger, we decided to channel that energy into something collaborative and shareable.
This is Critsumption.
This blog was developed as a way to organize our critical and analytical thoughts about the media we consume, whether it’s a comic, video game, or animated series. Critsumption is a place to deconstruct media so we can further understand its potential meaning, and to analyze how these pieces of media affect our perceptions.
We live in a constantly-evolving media landscape, one that is transforming daily and demanding more of our attention than ever before. As of 2017, the average person consumes media for 10–13 hours of information per day, and that only seems to be growing with each new innovation in media and technology. The goal of Critsumption, then, is to have the patience to be mindful about the media we consume, and explore what it means to truly pay attention to the things we are experiencing.
This is a place for discussions and deep dives, ranging from personal essays to theorycrafting columns. We welcome input and hope to build conversations around the things that interest us in a safe, inclusive space.
If you’ve ever left the movie theater only to immediately debate the film’s plot, hounded Google for in-depth explanations of minor details on that show you love, or cried because the end of a video game had you feeling some kind of way, you might just be in the right place.
