Romaji-first cards
Start from episode one. Every card leads with roman letters; kana and kanji sit alongside as you grow into them.
Free · open source · Chrome extension
Learn Japanese from the anime you already watch.
AnimeVocab sits in your browser, listens to the Japanese being spoken, and pauses on one word worth learning — with the meaning, reading, and exact line. Romaji-first, so you can start before you can read kana.
- YouTube, Netflix, Crunchyroll
- No account · data stays local
- AGPL open source
N4 · frequency #1,204
taikutsu
Listen
たいくつ · 退屈
boredom · tedious, dull
In this line taikutsu na nichijou ga, kyou de owaru
Know it
Learn it
Ignore
Built for immersion learners who want vocabulary from real shows, not textbook dialogues — without opening Anki mid-episode.
How it works
Three steps. No separate study session.
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1
Watch normally
English subtitles on. On YouTube we read the hidden Japanese track. On Netflix and Crunchyroll, Listening Mode transcribes the audio.
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2
Judge one word
The player pauses on a single useful word — romaji, reading, gloss, and the line it came from. Know it, learn it, or ignore it.
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3
Reviews catch you later
Words you're learning resurface in future episodes on a spaced-repetition schedule — right before you'd forget them.
Why learners pick AnimeVocab
Any show, any site
Listening Mode works from audio — not a subtitle library. New releases, obscure titles, any streaming site.
Smart word picking
Frequency ranks and JLPT levels filter out particles and noise. One card per line, with cooldowns so it never feels like a quiz show.
Local progress dashboard
Streaks, hours watched, vocabulary by level, review pipeline — all computed on your device, not our servers.
Pricing
The core loop is free forever. Pro pays for transcription compute.
FAQ
Can I learn Japanese just by watching anime?
Only if you actively notice and remember words. AnimeVocab handles that: one word at a time, in context, with scheduled reviews.
I can't read hiragana yet. Can I still use this?
Yes — that's the default setup. Cards show taikutsu before 退屈. Switch to kana-first or kanji-first when you're ready.
How is this different from subtitle dictionary tools?
Most tools assume you can read Japanese subtitles and hover words yourself. AnimeVocab pushes one curated word to you in romaji and tracks SRS for you — built for beginners and lazy viewers alike.
Where is my data stored?
In your browser only. No accounts, no analytics. Source code is on GitHub under AGPL.