Dive into the vibrant worlds of anime and video games, where learning Japanese has never been more engaging or accessible. With immersive storytelling, authentic dialogues, and interactive gameplay, these popular entertainment forms are transforming language study from a chore into an adventure. Whether you’re expanding your vocabulary through anime or sharpening your skills by navigating Japanese video games, this dynamic duo offers a fun and effective path to mastering the language like never before.
For the past three years, I’ve been gradually learning Japanese. In that time, particularly the first year, I tried dozens of learning methods, tools, apps, and online tutorials. I don’t regret that soul-searching period, because finding the right learning process is key to long-term language acquisition. That said, it helps to have a few starting points.
I’ve picked three creators and two software projects that I believe are perfect for beginners. And I’ll be active in the comments if you need any personal recommendations or have your own recommendations.
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ToKini Andy
Tokini Andy is a well-established educational platform managed by Andy and Yuki that focuses on teaching Japanese through structured lessons using textbooks like Genki and custom kanji guides. While it does not primarily center on gaming or anime, these interests are often referenced to enrich the learning experience. Tokini Andy is considered a solid starting point for beginners who want to build a strong foundation in Japanese before diving deeper into media-based learning. This approach may require patience but is beneficial for mastering the language’s fundamentals effectively.
What launched on YouTube as ToKini Andy in 2019 has become an entire learning platform, spread across video, Discord, and the company’s official site. Run by Andy and Yuki, the lessons focus on the foundational elements of learning Japanese, using textbooks like Genki and handcrafted guides to learning kanji. Though the hosts aren’t focused on games and anime, their love for both mediums is evident, with references to media popping up in lessons.
Occasionally, they also drop a video like “Is Dorohedoro perfect for learning Japanese?” and “I studied Japanese ALL DAY with Nintendo 3DS for 1 month. Here’s what happened.“
Tokini Andy is the most traditional starting point on this list, and though working your way through textbooks and kanji lessons will keep you away from games and anime, it will lay a foundation. For some folks (read: me) it helps to spend months, even years, really understanding the mechanics of a language.
That Japanese Man Yuta
That Japanese Man Yuta is a popular YouTuber who creates engaging and insightful content focused on learning Japanese through everyday conversations, culture, and media. His approachable teaching style and real-life examples make him a valuable resource for learners who want to supplement their studies with authentic language use, especially when combined with games and anime. By following his videos, learners can gain practical listening skills and cultural context that enhance their understanding and enjoyment of Japanese language learning through entertainment.
Yuta is the clearest, most concise, and most clever YouTuber in the Japanese language community. His videos, released every month or so, explain specific grammar points that you’re unlikely to find in a textbook but very likely to encounter in Japanese media like games and anime. While he celebrates this study material, he’s also mindful that learning Japanese entirely through anime can cause foreign-language speakers visiting Tokyo to sound like shonen heroes when they’re just trying to ask for directions.
Like the other creators here, Yuta has his own site that offers additional learning tools, including helpful, explanatory PDFs. And his Instagram account is a great way to get regular, short language tips, like why you shouldn’t say “anata,” the Japanese equivalent of “you.”
Game Gengo
Game Gengo is a highly regarded platform that makes learning Japanese through video games accessible and engaging. It offers detailed breakdowns of game dialogues, explaining vocabulary and grammar line by line, which helps learners understand context and usage effectively. The channel also provides valuable resources such as curated JLPT video series, community-created Anki decks for vocabulary, grammar, and kanji practice, and game scripts to enhance immersion. Joining the Game Gengo community gives learners access to exclusive content, discounts, and a supportive environment for practicing Japanese through popular games like Xenogears, Cyberpunk 2077, and Zelda. This approach transforms gaming into a powerful and enjoyable language learning tool.
Game Gengo is hosted by Matt, a native English speaker who lives in western Japan. The YouTube educator hosts multiple series focused on Japanese language acquisition through gaming. Above, you can watch the Metaphor: ReFantazio episode of the channel’s “Learn Japanese With” series, in which Matt takes a chunk of gameplay and breaks down every line word by word, particle by particle, grammatical construction by grammatical construction.
Starting with that series is like being hurled into the deep end on your first swimming lesson, so for newcomers, I recommend his playlists on N5-N1 grammar. The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test begins with N5 (beginner) and works its way up to N1 (fluency). If you learn best with a textbook on your desk, Matt has also produced videos that provide in-game examples of lessons from the most popular Japanese textbook, Genki.
NativShark
NativShark offers a comprehensive and natural approach to learning Japanese, covering all aspects from writing systems and vocabulary to listening and grammar. Its lessons are crafted by both native and advanced non-native speakers, ensuring that learners acquire real-life, naturally spoken Japanese. The platform uses a scientifically backed spaced repetition system and provides natural-speed audio, dialogues, and contextual kanji learning, helping users progress efficiently toward fluency. With features like personalized pacing, conjugation drills, and study stats, NativShark supports learners at every stage, making Japanese study accessible and effective for enthusiasts of games, anime, and everyday conversation alike.
The number one trick to learning a language is to foster a habit – something you look forward to doing at least 30 minutes a day, every day, for the foreseeable future. Few things in life are better at creating that sort of feedback loop than the apps we keep on the first page of our smartphones. Stuff like Instagram, WhatsApp, Spotify.
When I began learning Japanese, I made time and space (quite literally) by deleting some of my go-to social media apps and replacing them with language apps. Duolingo, with all its technical wizardry, was excellent at creating a habit, though I found I was retaining very little from its simplistic lessons. From there, I tried a variety of services:
- Anki: An expansive and often overwhelming open-source flashcard tool that uses spaced repetition and feels a bit like swiping through a dating app.
- Busuu: Think Duolingo but with a more fleshed-out Japanese language program.
- Bunpro: A very well-done blend of Anki and Bunpo.
Any one of these apps will be an excellent use of your time – and you may use a couple of them at once. But my current favorite platform is NativShark. It’s everything I need in one spot: spaced repetition flashcards, grammar breakdowns, kanji memorization techniques, and an easy-to-navigate design.
It’s not free like Anki, but I’d rather spend a little money to avoid tinkering and focus on learning. The image above is a breakdown of a single flashcard. Look at all of that helpful information!
Migaku
Migaku is a powerful language learning platform that makes mastering Japanese easier and more immersive than ever. By integrating directly with your favorite Japanese media like anime, Netflix shows, and YouTube videos, Migaku lets you click on words and subtitles to instantly access definitions, pronunciations, and AI-generated explanations in context. It also allows you to create customizable flashcards from real content, complete with audio, images, and example sentences, helping you learn vocabulary and kanji naturally. With features like furigana support, pitch accent coloring, and spaced repetition, Migaku transforms passive watching and reading into an active, engaging learning experience tailored to your level, accelerating your Japanese proficiency through real-world immersion.
While I’d love to be one of the handful of language prodigies on YouTube claiming to have completed Japan’s infamously challenging N1 language proficiency test in a matter of months, that’s not the case. I knew learning a new language as an adult would be, realistically speaking, a lifelong pursuit. So I prioritized a study routine that I looked forward to doing every day, rather than one that felt like a high-impact workout.
This brings us to the meat and potatoes of my recommendations: Migaku. This is the perfect tool for learning Japanese through Netflix and YouTube. In short, Migaku can display both the Japanese- and English-language subtitles at the same time, provide immediate definitions of words and phrases, and convert moments from videos into flashcards that include a screenshot, a snippet of audio, the subtitles, and a brief explanation of their meaning.
All of this can be done for free using other tools like Anki, but that requires a considerable amount of elbow grease. Like I said up top, the number one trick for language learning is creating a habit, and if you can do that while QAing tech issues, the more power to you. But for folks who want to dive into their favorite anime on Netflix and YouTube as soon as possible, Migaku is the easiest, fastest, and most enjoyable app to add to your phone.
How do games and anime make learning Japanese more engaging for me
Games and anime make learning Japanese more engaging by immersing you in authentic, lively language contexts that traditional methods often lack. They expose you to natural speech patterns, colloquialisms, and cultural nuances through captivating stories and characters, which keeps motivation high and learning enjoyable. Watching anime helps improve listening skills by familiarizing you with native pronunciation, intonation, and different speech levels, while video games offer interactive opportunities to practice reading and comprehension in a fun, contextualized way.
Moreover, the emotional connection you form with anime characters and game narratives fuels your desire to understand and use the language, turning study into an exciting adventure rather than a chore. This combination of entertainment and education encourages repeated exposure and active engagement, accelerating your grasp of vocabulary, grammar, and cultural insights without the monotony of conventional study.
How does watching anime help me understand regional dialects in Japanese
Watching anime helps you understand regional dialects in Japanese by exposing you to a variety of authentic accents, intonations, and speech patterns used across Japan. Anime often features characters speaking in different dialects, such as the Kansai dialect from western Japan, which allows learners to hear and distinguish these regional variations in a natural context. This exposure helps you develop a more nuanced listening comprehension and a deeper appreciation of how Japanese varies by region, beyond the standard Tokyo dialect commonly taught in textbooks.
Additionally, anime’s diverse genres and character settings provide examples of dialects in casual, formal, and even historical contexts, enriching your understanding of linguistic diversity and cultural nuances within Japan. By regularly listening to these dialects in anime, you become more familiar with their unique vocabulary, pronunciation, and intonation patterns, enhancing your ability to recognize and understand regional speech in real-life conversations.
