I have this picture of Batman above my computer:
@Special_Guest 100%
This really isnt helpful immersion advise for a beginner
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The game was actually VRChat. 
I often hesitate to say it because its English playerbase has a bit of a reputation for trolling and such, but there’s also a huge population of Japanese players who are generally more polite. I think I read somewhere that there are about as many Japanese-language players as English-language ones.
If you’re interested at all, I’d recommend looking for language exchange groups or Japanese groups built around your interests. There is a huge amount of Japanese creators on VRChat who are making educational and interactive content on all kinds of topics.
Also, despite having VR in the name, you don’t need to have a VR headset to play. Most of the Japanese folks I meet on there are either playing from their PC or even their phone. 
Unrelated to all that, if you want more resources for finding media of a specific level, I’d add to your list Game Gengo’s spreadsheet breaking down games by difficulty and by availability of learning features (Google Sheets link), as well as the site LearnNatively, which keeps a database of user-generated ratings for books and video.
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THANK YOU SO MUCH for this! this spreadsheet is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I’m definitely going to save it and use it.
Also thanks for recommending LearnNatively
@banndsand Also good to know about VRChat. Might give it a try!
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For me, the biggest thing has been keeping immersion simple enough that I can actually do it after work.
With anime/Netflix, I try not to turn every episode into a full study session. I usually watch with Japanese subtitles, pause only on short lines that feel useful, check the reading/meaning/grammar, then save just a few good sentences for Anki.
Lately I’ve been using Kikugo for that because it keeps the workflow in one place: furigana, translation, grammar/context explanations, and Anki export while watching Netflix. It helps me stay closer to the episode instead of constantly switching between tools.
I’m still trying to be careful not to over-mine though. If I save too many sentences, it stops being fun really fast.
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I’m not following JLPT but for me it was around ca. 3000 core-vocab that I started finding material that I can somewhat understand AND enjoy
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Thanks for mentioning Kikugo. I check it out
I usually listen to podcast while walking/doing things that doesn’t require much focus, depending on how much focus/attention the thing im doing need i listen to “easier” or “harder” difficulty podcasts depending on what im doing.
Here are some podcast (various difficulty) Ordered from easy to harder:
(Also have interesting videos mostly N5-N3)
(One of the teachers on NIJ/Natural input japanese (formerly CIJ/Comprehenisble Japanese)
Also have some regular videos/gameplay videos.
Good luck with your studies!
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ありがとう！ Thanks for sharing them, I’ll definitely check them out.
ありがとう！お互い頑張りましょう ! 
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Probably a bit of a weird one, but I really really enjoy listening to video game etc ‘lore for sleep’ stuff on Youtube, but that category doesn’t really exist in Japanese, so I download the transcripts off Youtube, then translate them to Japanese with ChatGPT and use Azure AI with spacing prompts to create something similar in Japanese. Good for background listening or just to listen to when I am hitting the hay .
Preview clip of one of the Resident Evil ones I actually made earlier today -
https://voca.ro/1emAZGRLkrks
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this sounds really cool but
お金持ちですか
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Thank you for the list!
I am going through nihongo con teppei but his jingle his starting to make me crazy x)
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If you use it directly from Azure tools rather than going through a third party provider, it is actually very cheap. Maybe $1 per hour of audio?
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There are great recommendations here! I try to do a little something every day, but the focus depends on what interests me. In the end, it probably adds up to 1-3 hours daily right now. Over the course of a week, though I will hit grammar, kanji, reading and listening. Need to be better at working in writing.
I am on Genki Chapter 18 (after about 3 1/2 years and lots of distractions!). Others may have different opinions but I found that I am just now getting to the point that I can get through the easiest content outside of the textbook. I would actually recommend not to try to engage with native content until you finish the equivalent of Genki 1.
Up to this point, the Tadoku graded readers have been about the only thing that was fun and comfortable to read. I am wrapping up Level 0 finally, ready to purchase Level 1. I am looking forward to reading よつばと！with the WaniKani group - I feel I am much better prepared to tackle this now.
I have tried many podcasts and up to this point, all have been too hard. Until - just recently someone pointed me to Nihongo con Teppei! Agree with advice to go all the way back to #1 - they are “bite sized” - about 3 1/2 minutes and perfect! I have learned something with every single podcast even though overall they are very basic. I am only on #6 but he builds on earlier material and repeats it. Also, the later part of the podcast speeds up slightly and has slightly more complex material. If you are already an advanced learner, I could see this being to easy - but for me, this is perfect!
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