Setting Up an Anime Sentence Mining Workflow: A Beginner’s Guide
Anime sentence mining is a powerful method for learning Japanese: you collect sentences from anime episodes (with subtitles) and turn them into flashcards. By systematically mining sentences you get ready-made context, audio, and visuals. This guide shows how to set up the tools — mpv, MPVacious, Rikaitan, and Anki — and how they work together so you can build high quality flashcards from your favourite shows and review them efficiently.
Tools Overview
Here’s a quick introduction to each tool and its role in the workflow:
- mpv (Video Player) – A lightweight, scriptable video player. mpv lets you play episodes with subtitles, pause, seek and supports powerful user‑scripts like MPVacious. This makes it ideal for mining.
- MPVacious – A Lua user‑script for mpv that adds hotkeys to capture the current subtitle line, take a screenshot, clip the audio and send everything to Anki via AnkiConnect. In effect it automates the old subs2srs workflow.
- Rikaitan – A pop‑up dictionary extension based on Yomichan. Hover over Japanese words to see readings and dictionary definitions, then create a new Anki note with the word, reading, meaning and full sentence. Rikaitan’s Anki integration handles the text side of the card.
- Anki + AnkiConnect – Anki is a spaced repetition system that schedules your flashcards. AnkiConnect is an add‑on that enables external tools to create and edit cards automatically. You will review your mined sentences in Anki each day.
The pipeline is simple: Rikaitan creates a new note in Anki with the sentence and target word, MPVacious attaches the audio and screenshot from mpv, and Anki takes care of the review. The following sections explain how to set up each component.
1. Installing and Configuring mpv
What is mpv? mpv is a free, open‑source media player that is highly extensible and perfect for language learning. Unlike other players, mpv supports user‑scripts and precise control, which we need to mine subtitles. You’ll use mpv to play anime episodes with Japanese subtitles (usually .ass or .srt files).
Installation: Download mpv for your platform:
- Windows: download a portable build from the official site or shinchiro’s builds. Extract the
.7z archive and put the mpv folder somewhere convenient (e.g. C:\\Program Files\\mpv).
- macOS: install via Homebrew with
brew install mpv or download the prebuilt app from the mpv website.
- Linux: install from your distribution’s package manager, e.g.
sudo pacman -S mpv on Arch or sudo apt install mpv on Ubuntu. Make sure the version is 0.32+.
Run mpv once to create its configuration directory (on Linux and macOS this is ~/.config/mpv/; on Windows it’s %AppData%\\mpv\\). We’ll add a basic configuration to make mining easier.
Basic configuration: create an mpv.conf file in the config directory with settings such as:
# choose audio/subtitle languages
alang=ja,jp,en
slang=ja,jp,en
# auto-load external subs and sync with audio
sub-auto=fuzzy
subs-with-matching-audio=yes
# remember where you left off
save-position-on-quit=yes
# screenshot settings
screenshot-directory=~/Pictures/mpv_screenshots
screenshot-format=jpg
screenshot-template="%F_%p"
You can also create an input.conf file to define handy keybindings, like quick seek (h/l for 5s skip, j/k for 60s), and subtitle delay adjustments. MPVacious will add its own hotkeys for subtitle navigation and card creation.
2. Installing MPVacious
What is MPVacious? MPVacious is a user‑script for mpv that automates card creation. With a few hotkeys you can grab the current subtitle text, take a screenshot, clip the audio and update your Anki card via AnkiConnect. It effectively replaces subs2srs.
Requirements: ensure you have Anki running with the AnkiConnect add‑on installed. On Linux you may also need xclip or wl-copy for clipboard operations.
Installation:
- Clone the MPVacious repository into your mpv
scripts directory (create it if it doesn’t exist). On Linux/macOS run:
mkdir -p ~/.config/mpv/scripts
git clone https://github.com/Ajatt-Tools/mpvacious.git ~/.config/mpv/scripts/subs2srs
- On Windows, clone or extract the repo into
%AppData%\\mpv\\scripts\\subs2srs.
Configure MPVacious: in mpv/script-opts/, create a file subs2srs.conf and set:
deck_name=Mining::Anime
model_name=Japanese Sentence
sentence_field=Sentence
audio_field=Audio
image_field=Image
These values should match your Anki deck and note type (we’ll define the note type later).
Keybindings overview:
- Ctrl+N – create a new card using the current subtitle line (text only).
- Ctrl+M – append the current line’s audio and screenshot to the most recently created card.
- Shift+H / Shift+L – jump to the previous / next subtitle line.
- Ctrl+H – replay the current subtitle line from its beginning.
- A then C – advanced mode: select multiple subtitles (use Shift+H/L to expand the selection) and press N or M to create or update a multi-line card.
The typical MPVacious workflow is: pause on a line, create the text card (with Rikaitan, see below), then press Ctrl+M to add audio and screenshot.
3. Setting Up Rikaitan
What is Rikaitan? Rikaitan is a pop‑up dictionary extension derived from Yomichan. Hover over Japanese text in your browser to see readings and definitions. More importantly, Rikaitan can create a new Anki card for a word with a single click or hotkey. It’s essential for sentence mining because you use it to look up unknown words and generate the base card (word, reading, meaning, and sentence).
Installation: install the “Rikaitan Popup Dictionary” extension from the Chrome Web Store (or the Firefox equivalent). After installation, enable it by clicking the 「日」 icon.
Import dictionaries: you must import dictionary files (ZIPs) such as JMdict (English definitions), KANJIDIC (kanji data) and optionally others like pitch accent or names dictionaries. Go to Rikaitan → Settings → Dictionaries → Import and select each ZIP (do not extract). Then enable them.
Anki integration: under Rikaitan → Settings → Anki, enable Anki integration and choose your deck/note type. Map fields as follows:
- Sentence field →
{cloze-prefix}<b>{cloze-body}</b>{cloze-suffix} (bolds the target word in the sentence).
- Word field →
{expression}.
- Reading field →
{furigana-plain}.
- Meaning field →
{glossary-brief}.
- Leave audio/image fields blank (MPVacious fills them).
Mining with Rikaitan: When watching an episode in mpv, pause on the unknown word. Copy the subtitle text if needed. In your browser, open the Rikaitan search page (or the subtitle file), paste the line, and hover the word. When the popup appears, click the “Add” button (＋) to create the note in Anki. Immediately return to mpv and press Ctrl+M to add the audio and screenshot.
Remember to trim definitions if Rikaitan adds multiple senses; keep just the relevant meaning. You can also customize Rikaitan to hide furigana until you hover over the popup for a reading challenge.
4. Preparing Anki
Install Anki: download Anki from apps.ankiweb.net and install it. Add the AnkiConnect add‑on (ID 2055492159) from the add‑on manager and restart Anki. AnkiConnect will run in the background to accept commands.
Create (or import) a note type for sentence cards: you need a note type with at least these fields: Sentence, Word, Reading, Meaning, Audio, Image. You can either import a pre‑made note type (for example from AJATT community mining decks) or create your own: go to Tools → Manage Note Types, duplicate the Basic note and add the fields above.
Design the card template: For targeted sentence cards, the front should show the full Japanese sentence with the target word bolded (not blanked out), plus an audio button and optionally the screenshot. On the back, show the word, reading, meaning, the full sentence again, the audio clip and screenshot. The idea is to test one thing (the target word’s meaning/reading) while reinforcing the full sentence.
Create a deck: create a new deck (e.g. “Sentence Mining”) where all mined cards will go. You can tag cards by show or episode if you wish.
5. Sentence Mining Best Practices
- One unknown word per sentence (T1): choose sentences where you know all the words except the target. Skip lines with three or more unknowns — they are too heavy and reduce retention.
- Select interesting content: pick lines that stand out to you emotionally (funny, dramatic, or memorable) and that use the word in a clear context. You don’t need to mine every unknown word.
- Edit your cards: after adding, clean up definitions (keep only the relevant sense), fix any formatting issues, bold the target if necessary, and ensure the screenshot and audio are clear.
- Use tags or notes: tag your cards by source (e.g. series and episode) or add the source to a note field so you can filter later.
- Pace yourself: start with 5‑15 new cards per day. Anki review load compounds, so adding moderate amounts keeps your study sustainable. Continue immersing outside of Anki; the cards are supplements.
When reviewing, focus on the target word: can you recall its meaning (and reading)? Play the audio to reinforce pronunciation and use the screenshot to recall the scene. Mark the card according to how well you knew the word; don’t penalize yourself for mistakes on other words you already know.
Summary: Tool Responsibilities and Workflow
- mpv – plays the video and subtitles and serves as the platform for mining.
- Rikaitan – performs word lookup and creates the base card (word, reading, meaning, sentence) in Anki.
- MPVacious – adds the sentence’s audio and screenshot to the last Anki card and provides subtitle navigation.
- Anki – stores and schedules your cards via spaced repetition.
Set up these tools and you’ll be able to turn any anime episode into rich sentence cards: pause at an unknown word, look it up with Rikaitan, attach audio and an image with MPVacious, then let Anki do the work of ensuring you remember it. Happy mining!
9 to 5 Japanese 