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It's installed — how do I mine cards while watching anime?

Updated

Many people get stuck at the same point after downloading Fushi: it's installed, but how do dictionaries, Anki and anime fit together? This walks the road from zero to the first card, using Japanese as the example.

Step 0: finish the onboarding wizard ​

The wizard opens automatically on first launch and sets up a few things in order:

  1. What do you want to use Fushi for — untick modules you won't use; they disappear from the navigation bar. Only watching anime? Video and Anki are enough; you can change it any time.
  2. Recommended pack — Japanese vocabulary, pitch-accent and frequency dictionaries plus local Japanese / English pronunciation libraries, about 9.5 GB. Install it if you're learning Japanese and skip picking dictionaries one by one.
  3. Anki — on desktop, install Anki with the AnkiConnect add-on and keep Anki open; Android uses AnkiDroid, iOS uses AnkiMobile. Once connected, create a deck with the built-in Lapis note type in one tap.

Closed it halfway and want to redo it? Settings → System and about → Getting started guide.

Step 1: get anime into Fushi ​

Two ways:

  • In-app download: find the work under Browse → Discover, hit "Search resources" and download a whole season in one go; it's added to the library automatically and plays while downloading; subscribe and new episodes arrive by themselves. libtorrent is built in, no separate download client needed. With AI set up, you can also just tell AI download the title.
  • Local files: already have video and subtitle files? Just import them.

Step 2: watch, and tap any word you don't know ​

Subtitles are tappable during playback. Tap a word and the dictionary entry pops up; a word in the definition you don't know either? Keep tapping — lookups nest. Close the popup and keep watching — no notes at this stage, and it's fine to skip whatever you don't understand. Immersion only works if you're watching something you actually like.

Step 3: worth remembering? Tap the plus ​

Next to the definition is a plus. One tap and the card is made, carrying the place it was born:

  • the sentence: the line of dialogue the word came from;
  • the picture: a screenshot or a video clip of the line;
  • the audio: that line of dialogue, plus the word's own pronunciation.

Cards use the Lapis note type and go into the Anki you connected in step 0. When you review later you see not a lone word but the scene you watched it in.

Which words deserve a card? ​

A rough but useful rule: only one unknown word in the sentence. A sentence you don't understand at all won't stick as a card either — skip it; a sentence that's off by exactly one word is the best card, because the context explains most of it already.

Fewer is better. Ten-odd new cards a day while you keep watching beats a hundred one day followed by not opening Anki the next.

Next ​

The full immersion route (why immersion, kana, Kaishi 1.5k) is in the immersion guide.

Still have a question? Ask on Discord or in the QQ group.