Learn Japanese from the anime you already watch.
Romaji-first vocabulary cards, spaced repetition, and Listening Mode for Netflix, Crunchyroll, and YouTube. Free, open source, local-first — with an optional cloud app and Manga Studio for creating your own manga.
Website · Install extension · Manga Studio · Cloud app
Most anime learning tools assume you can already read Japanese subtitles. AnimeVocab meets you where most fans actually are: watching with English subs, hearing Japanese, and wanting to remember useful words without setting up Anki on day one.
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Romaji-first cards | See yakusoku before you can read 約束 |
| One word per line | No flashcard flood — one useful candidate per subtitle line |
| Spaced repetition | Built-in review queue; export to Anki anytime |
| Listening Mode | Transcribes tab audio when JP subs are missing (Crunchyroll, etc.) |
| Local-first | Progress in chrome.storage.local — no account required |
| Manga Studio | AI-assisted manga maker at animevocab.com/studio |
| Cloud app | Optional sync, AI coach, notebooks, streaks at animevocab.com/app |
One-click install from the store listing — link will appear on animevocab.com.
- Sign in at animevocab.com/app — step-by-step install guide with download link.
- Or download
animevocab-chrome-extension.zip, unzip, openchrome://extensions, enable Developer mode, click Load unpacked, select the unzipped folder.
See extension/README-INSTALL.md for screenshots-level detail.
| Source | How |
|---|---|
| YouTube | Reads the Japanese caption track while you display English subs |
HTML5 <track> sites |
Native subtitle cues |
| Netflix, Crunchyroll, others | Listening Mode — real-time transcription of tab audio |
- Tokenization — kuromoji.js + bundled JMdict-derived dictionary with frequency ranks
- Word picking — scores by frequency, difficulty band, and exposure; one card per line with cooldowns
- Listening Mode — OpenAI Realtime transcription; Pro subscription or your own API key
- Privacy — progress stays on-device unless you opt into cloud sync; aggregate rating-prompt counters only (PRIVACY.md)
The core loop is free forever. Pro covers hosted Listening Mode (no OpenAI key), usage metering, and cloud features. Backend: single Cloudflare Worker (backend/).
TypeScript in src/; built output committed under extension/ for load-unpacked installs.
npm install
npm run typecheck # strict tsc
npm run build # esbuild → extension/
npm run watch # rebuild on change
npm run pack # zip for Chrome Web Store / download hosting
npm run test:unitsrc/ extension source (TypeScript)
entries/ content, background, popup, options, dashboard, …
lib/ tokenizer, dictionary, SRS, site adapters
extension/ manifest, icons, built bundles
web/ Next.js site + cloud app (animevocab.com)
backend/ Cloudflare Worker (licensing, sync API)
scripts/ dictionary builder
Store submission: PUBLISHING.md
Issues and PRs welcome — especially site adapters, tokenizer edge cases, and dictionary quality. Run npm run typecheck && npm run build before submitting.
AGPL-3.0 — free to use and modify; share alike if you distribute or run as a service. Commercial licensing: open an issue.
- Website: https://animevocab.com
- Cloud app: https://animevocab.com/app
- Manga Studio: https://animevocab.com/studio
- Sponsor: https://github.com/sponsors/Atharva-Kanherkar