Worked for me. I'm not an anime fan, but I planned a trip to Japan and used it daily for roughly a year. I ended up with about 1500 words, 300 of them suspended, 200 young, and about 1000 of them mature. When I got there, I could understand some signs, could handle basic interactions with staff without many problems and if someone was patient with me, we could hold a basic conversation. That might not sound amazing, but talking with drunk Japanese business men in alley way bars was an experience worth it. Also, Japanese is in a lot movies and tv shows and shirts and tattoos, so I actually find it fairly practical even without anime.
But the software doesn't prevent you from using it incorrectly, developing bad habits, or to stop using it all together. Here's a few things to know.
1. Never miss a day. Remember, that the right way to learn a language is to use it all day every day. Be happy you're only spending less than an hour a day.
2. Don't be afraid to let words get suspended, it'll save you time and that makes it easier to never miss a day. The feature is there for a reason. Pick a day to revive a few suspended cards every once in a while.
3. Quality studying > quantity. It saves you time and learns you more cards in the long run. Study example sentences or whatever meta info the back of the card provides. And reduce the new cards daily BEFORE you get overwhelmed. It's good habit that's important.
4. Once you get a hang of the grammar, or the concepts of whatever you're studying, spend a few minutes a day putting it into use.
5. You can't learn Japanese, give up.
>Pic related, I gave up shortly after my trip, forgot most of the written language, forgot only half of the spoken language though.
