How to learn Japanese by watching anime

Why anime works, and where it doesn’t

Anime is real Japanese, spoken by native actors, about things you care about. You hear the same words again and again: a sports show repeats its sports words, a school show its school words. And because you want to know what happens next, you keep coming back, which is what learning a language takes.

But watching is not the same as learning. With English subtitles your eyes read English and the Japanese goes past. To learn, you need to see the Japanese, understand the words in it, and meet them again a few days later. Some things to know:

• Anime speech is often casual, and some characters talk in ways people don’t in real life (very rough, very old-fashioned, or with a made-up habit). Shows about everyday life are closest to how people talk.
• Fast, technical shows (battles, politics, science) are hard even for advanced learners. Start slow.
• Anime teaches listening and words very well. For grammar, a short textbook or course alongside helps you understand why sentences are built the way they are.

How to start from zero, step by step

1. Pick a slow show at your level

   Start with an everyday show with clear voices, not your favourite battle anime. See the list below. You will come back to the hard ones.

2. Turn on the Japanese line

   Watch with Japanese subtitles or captions. With Ikkimi, a Japanese line you can click appears on top of the player on Crunchyroll, Netflix or YouTube, with each word’s reading in kana and romaji, so you can follow it even before you can read Japanese.

3. Click the words you keep hearing

   Don’t look up everything. Pause on a line you almost understand and click the word that is missing. Keep three to five words an episode, the ones that come up again.

4. Review for ten minutes a day

   Each kept word comes back as a flashcard just before you would forget it (spaced repetition). Seeing the scene it came from, and hearing the line again, makes it stick far better than a word list.

5. Learn kana along the way

   Romaji helps at the start, but the sooner you read hiragana and katakana, the faster you will read the line itself. Seeing the same words in kana every episode is good practice.

6. Rewatch and speak along

   Rewatch a scene you liked and say the lines with the characters (shadowing). Then hide the English and see how much you understand.

7. Move up a level

   When an episode feels easy, pick a show one level up. Ikkimi’s library rates 192 anime by hand from N5 to N1, and gives about 9,700 more an estimated level, so you can tell.

The best anime for beginners, by level

Levels follow the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, from N5 (easiest) to N1 (hardest). They are Ikkimi’s estimate of how hard each show’s Japanese is: how fast people talk, how many unusual words there are, and how clear the voices are. Where a show streams varies by country.

Your first shows (N5 to N4)

• N5Polar Bear Caféしろくまカフェslow, polite everyday talkCrunchyroll
• N5 to N4My Neighbor Totoroとなりのトトロa film, 1 h 26, children talkingNetflix
• N5 to N4Teasing Master Takagi-sanからかい上手の高木さんtwo speakers, short linesNetflixCrunchyroll
• N4Flying Witchふらいんぐうぃっちslow everyday talk, clear voicesCrunchyroll
• N4Kiki’s Delivery Service魔女の宅急便a film, 1 h 43Netflix
• N5 to N4Ponyo崖の上のポニョa film, small children talkingNetflix
• N5 to N4Rilakkuma and Kaoruリラックマとカオルさんshort episodes, one calm speaker, everyday lifeNetflix
• N5 to N4Pokémon Conciergeポケモンコンシェルジュshort episodes, polite talk at workNetflix
• N5 to N4Doraemonドラえもんmade for children, short stories, clear voicesNetflix
• N4Sweetness & Lightning甘々と稲妻a father and a small child, cooking wordsCrunchyroll

Next steps (N4 to N3)

• N4 to N3Laid-Back Campゆるキャン△calm talk, camping words, text messages on screenCrunchyroll
• N4 to N3Whisper of the Heart耳をすませばa film, family and school talkNetflix
• N4 to N3Spirited Away千と千尋の神隠しa film, some old-fashioned speechNetflix
• N4 to N3Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You君に届けschool romance, a polite leadNetflixCrunchyroll
• N4 to N3Horimiyaホリミヤcasual school talk, short scenesCrunchyrollNetflix
• N4 to N3Komi Can’t Communicate古見さんは、コミュ症です。short lines, written notes on screenNetflix
• N4 to N3Skip and Loaferスキップとローファーnatural school conversationCrunchyroll
• N4 to N3Fruits Basketフルーツバスケットa polite lead, family talkCrunchyroll

Popular anime and how hard they are

You don’t have to wait to watch what you love, but know what to expect:

• N3 to N2Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End葬送のフリーレンcalm speech, magic and fantasy wordsCrunchyrollNetflix
• N3Haikyu!!ハイキュー!!sports talk that repeats itselfCrunchyrollNetflix
• N3NarutoNARUTO -ナルト-clear voices, ninja words that repeatCrunchyrollNetflix
• N3My Hero Academia僕のヒーローアカデミアschool talk, hero words that repeatCrunchyrollNetflix
• N3Your Name君の名は。a film, 1 h 46, teenagers talkingCrunchyrollNetflix
• N2Demon Slayer鬼滅の刃old-fashioned speech, a lot of shoutingCrunchyrollNetflix
• N2Jujutsu Kaisen呪術廻戦fast, invented technique namesCrunchyrollNetflix
• N2Attack on Titan進撃の巨人military words, fastCrunchyroll

Ikkimi’s full library has 16 anime at N5 to N4, 96 at N4 to N3 and N3, and 80 harder ones, rated by hand. It also gives about 9,700 more anime an estimated level from their genres, and lists Japanese YouTube channels and manga by level. See all 192 by level, or browse the library.

How Ikkimi helps

Ikkimi is one deck of words on two screens:

• Chrome extension, on your show. A Japanese line you can click sits on top of the player on Crunchyroll, Netflix and YouTube, on your own account. Click a word and the video pauses; you see its reading in kana and romaji, its meaning, its JLPT level and a recording by a native speaker where one exists (never a computer voice; otherwise the line from the show plays again). Keep it with one click. Saved words get a yellow underline, and words you know lose theirs.
• The website, for review. Kept words come back as flashcards with the scene and the line they came from, when each is due. Daily quests, XP, levels and a streak, with Terebi the TV mascot, keep it fun. The library suggests shows for your level.

More on each service: Crunchyroll, Netflix, YouTube.

Ikkimi also helps with sentences: Break it down explains each part of a line, and saved lines can be reviewed whole, by listening and building them back up. Words you hear in a changed form (食べた, tabeta, “ate”) are saved in their dictionary form (食べる, taberu, “to eat”), with a note on why.

Ikkimi and other ways to learn

For Ikkimi next to named tools such as Language Reactor, Migaku and asbplayer, see the comparison.

Questions

Can you really learn Japanese by watching anime?

Yes, if you watch actively. Watching with English subtitles alone teaches very little. What works is watching with Japanese subtitles, looking up the words you hear, and reviewing those words over the following days with spaced repetition. Anime gives you thousands of hours of real Japanese to learn from; a tool such as Ikkimi makes each line clickable so that looking up and keeping words takes one click.

What is the best app to learn Japanese by watching anime?

Look for four things: Japanese subtitles on the show itself, one-click word lookup that pauses the video, flashcards made for you with spaced review, and help for beginners who cannot read kana yet. Ikkimi is built around exactly these. It adds a Japanese line you can click on top of Crunchyroll, Netflix and YouTube in Chrome; each word shows its reading in kana and romaji, its meaning, its JLPT level and a recording by a native speaker where one exists (never a computer voice; otherwise the line from the show plays again), and the words you keep become flashcards on the Ikkimi website, each with the scene it came from. It is made for complete beginners.

Do I need to learn hiragana first?

No, you can start straight away. Ikkimi shows every word in kana and in romaji (Japanese written with English letters), so you can follow along from zero. Learning hiragana and katakana alongside is still worth it, and seeing the same words in kana every episode helps them stick.

Which anime are best for beginners?

Slow, everyday shows with clear voices: Polar Bear Café, My Neighbor Totoro, Teasing Master Takagi-san, Doraemon, Flying Witch, Sweetness & Lightning and Non Non Biyori. Avoid fast, technical shows such as Gintama or Psycho-Pass at first. Ikkimi’s library rates 192 popular anime by hand from N5 (easiest) to N1, and about 9,700 more by estimate.

How long does it take to learn Japanese from anime?

It depends on how much you watch and review. Keeping three to five new words an episode, watching an episode a day and reviewing for ten minutes a day adds up to over a thousand words in a year. Pair it with a grammar resource to understand how sentences fit together.

Does Ikkimi work with Crunchyroll and Netflix?

Yes. The Ikkimi Chrome extension works on Crunchyroll, Netflix and YouTube on a computer, using your own account. Most Crunchyroll episodes have no Japanese subtitles, so Ikkimi finds a matching file in Jimaku’s public catalogue and lines it up with the episode by itself. Other streaming services are not supported yet.

How much does Ikkimi cost?

Ikkimi is one paid plan with everything in it: $9.99 a month, or $59.99 a year. It covers the web app, with unlimited words and export to Anki, and the Chrome extension on Crunchyroll, Netflix and YouTube. The yearly plan starts with 7 days free: you add a card to start, and nothing is charged if you cancel before day 8. The monthly plan has no free trial. There is no free plan.

Is it legal? Does Ikkimi pirate anime?

Ikkimi does not host, download or stream any video. You watch on your own Crunchyroll, Netflix or YouTube account, and Ikkimi adds a clickable line on your own screen.

Can I use Japanese subtitles and English subtitles at the same time?

Yes. Ikkimi shows the Japanese line on top of the player and can show the English line under it, so you can check the meaning of the whole sentence, then hide the English as you improve.