Animelon: Learn Japanese with Anime

In this article, I want to introduce you to the site animelon, where you can watch anime while following the subtitles in Japanese, English, and romanized. The site was built to help learners study Japanese through anime; it offers a few options and tools to make that work, and on top of that it loads fast.

With animelon, you can choose which subtitles appear in the video: remove the English track, add subtitles in hiragana, or show the whole line in katakana. You can loop a specific phrase and repeat it until you have it down. If you create an account, the site also unlocks tools for phrase and vocabulary tests.

You do not need to register or log in; just head over to animelon.com, pick an anime, and watch it for free. Even though the site itself is in English, that does not get in the way of your studies. Choose an anime and an episode, and you are ready to go. The first screen you see will look something like this:

On the left side, you will find a box listing every phrase from the episode. Just click on a phrase, and the video will jump to that exact moment. In the same box, you can also check your translation history, take tests, flip through flashcards, and try the other activities that are designed to make new words stick.

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How Animelon Helps You Learn Japanese

Click on any word in the Japanese subtitle line, and a tooltip pops up with the meaning of that word in Japanese. Click on the English word, and the tooltip shows the different ways to say that same thing in Japanese. If you want to grow your Japanese vocabulary, this is one of the most useful features on the site, and it pairs especially well with practicing everyday Japanese phrases alongside your shows.

You can also adjust the playback speed of the video, which makes it easier to keep up with the subtitles and the dialogue. Memorization tools such as flashcards and typing exercises tend to do most of the heavy lifting once you start.

Animelon – overview on YouTube

The idea behind animelon is to pick up Japanese passively while enjoying anime, a strong channel for absorbing the language and the culture at the same time. Beyond informal Japanese, you get a feel for everyday conversations and the rhythm of daily life in Japan.

The site was created in March 2017 and has yet to get the recognition it deserves — the concept is genuinely clever. What do you think about learning Japanese with anime? Pop over to animelon.com and tell us about your experience with the tool.

You can even aim the site at specific topics: pick up soccer vocabulary while watching Captain Tsubasa, science terms while watching Dr. Stone, or game words while watching Death Parade.

Getting Japanese Subtitles for Anime

Maybe you would rather work offline: download the subtitles, drop them next to an anime file on your computer, and study the lines as plain text, or translate them on your own.

One site that hosts Japanese subtitle files is kitsunekko.net. Grab the subtitles you need and study at your own pace. Which anime scene has actually helped your Japanese the most so far — and have you stumbled on anything new on Animelon?