Anki Kanji Decks Compared, and Fixing Review Pile-Ups

Short answer: Choose one main deck that matches your method: a vocabulary deck (such as Kaishi 1.5k or a Core 2k/6k deck) if you want words with kanji from day one, or a Remembering the Kanji (RTK) style deck if you want to learn each kanji’s meaning from its parts first. If reviews are piling up, lower “New cards/day”, clear the backlog in small sessions, and deal with leech cards. New cards are what create reviews.

Anki is a free, open-source flashcard app with spaced repetition. It is free on desktop and Android; the official iPhone app is paid. Because anyone can share a deck, there are many kanji decks, and choosing one is a common question on r/LearnJapanese. So is the next one: “I have 600 reviews, what do I do?”

The main kinds of kanji decks

Deck names and versions change, so think in terms of types.

Vocabulary decks with kanji

Decks such as Kaishi 1.5k and the Core 2k/6k decks teach common words written with kanji, with audio and example sentences in many versions. You learn kanji through the words they appear in.

• Suits: beginners who want useful words and readings from the start, and learners who already know kana.
• Trade-off: you do not study each kanji’s parts, so look-alikes such as 末 and 未 can blur.

RTK-style decks

Decks built on James Heisig’s Remembering the Kanji give one English keyword per kanji, often with a space for your own story. You learn to recognise and recall the meaning, and readings come later.

• Suits: learners who like building meaning from parts and want to cover many kanji quickly.
• Trade-off: no readings or words at first. You need a vocabulary step afterwards. See Remembering the Kanji explained.

Readings decks (jōyō, JLPT)

Decks that show a kanji with its on and kun readings, often grouped by JLPT level or the jōyō list of 2,136 kanji.

• Suits: a reference or a final check before an exam.
• Trade-off: readings learned without words are hard to keep. See which kanji readings to learn first.

Your own deck

Making your own cards is slower, and many people say it helps them remember, because they chose every word.

How to choose in five minutes

1. Decide your method first: words first, or kanji meanings first.
2. Pick one deck of that type. Read its description and check that it has the fields you want (readings, audio, stroke order).
3. Do it for two weeks before judging. Most decks feel odd at the start.

Running a vocabulary deck and an RTK deck together is possible, but it doubles your reviews. Start with one.

Why reviews pile up

Every new card returns several times in the following weeks, at growing intervals. The number of reviews you face each day mostly depends on how many new cards you added recently. Missed days add to it, because reviews keep coming due.

Fixing a pile-up, step by step

1. Lower “New cards/day”. In the deck’s options, set it to a small number, or to zero until the backlog is gone. Anki’s default is 20, which is a lot for kanji with readings.

2. Clear the backlog in chunks. Do 50 to 100 reviews, take a break, then do more. The oldest overdue cards are not lost; you may just get more of them wrong at first.

3. Leave “Maximum reviews/day” alone, or set it high. Capping reviews hides the pile instead of shrinking it, and the extra cards wait for tomorrow.

4. Handle leeches. A leech is a card you keep failing. By default Anki tags a card as a leech after 8 lapses. Find them with the tag, then rewrite the card, add a mnemonic, or suspend it for now. One rewritten card saves many failed reviews.

5. Consider FSRS. Recent versions of Anki include FSRS, an optional scheduler that sets intervals from your answer history and a “desired retention” you choose. A slightly lower desired retention means fewer reviews and more forgetting. It changes how reviews are spread; it does not undo the load of new cards.

6. Answer honestly and move fast. Do not spend a minute on a card. If you cannot recall it in a few seconds, mark it wrong and move on.

Habits that keep Anki manageable

• Do reviews before new cards, every day.
• Set new cards from the time you have: if 20 minutes is your budget, find the number that keeps you there.
• Add mnemonics or stories to cards that fail twice.
• Suspend cards you do not need right now, such as rare words.

Where Kanji Guide fits

Kanji Guide is a separate app, not an Anki deck. It gives each kanji a story, readings, example words and stroke order, grouped by JLPT level, with its own reviews. Some learners use it for kanji meanings and Anki for vocabulary. If you do both, keep new items low in each.

Where to go next

For a wider view, see ways to learn kanji in 2026 and how many kanji per day. To try the story approach, open 食 or 学, or the study app.