no-anki: but actually a little
anki is a necessary part of language learning in the beginning stages. I will never denounce the name of anki, wanikani, or any service that introduces someone to a subject with SRS. it's a proven technique to internalize the topic or at least help memorize medical terms before a big exam.
after the kanji becomes a chore, you remember less. daily practice turns into questioning the effectiveness of anki. you're already reading japanese content online, utilizing tatsumoto-ren & co's extensions. you're recognizing slang in a vtuber stream more often.
you're intermediate now
this is good! it's only up from here.
I call this the no-anki phase. stop yourself from reading forum posts about learning 常用漢字 optimally. just read famitsu or whatever you like. exposure will help you more than anything in ways other than raw japanese studying. you're more inclined to watch a show when it's part of leisure time. reading raw manga is tough but enjoyable if you pick up something interesting to you. someone may recommend Gintama for studying. read it for enjoyment if you like it with your jisho app out. ultimately the only way up is to expose yourself to japan.
I'm still on my journey to fluency in japanese and korean. in my time learning, I've picked up differing opinions on language acquisition. in all the sources, the commonality is immersion.
I don't like how that word is interpreted, but it is a good word. rather than immersing as if it's an active task, think of it as shifting your mental environment to the language you want to learn. absorb language without translating it to your native lang. switch your phone language to japanese and actually read the buttons. when you see them, read them out loud. when scrolling through twitter, stop and read the posts like you would an english tweet. if you need to look something up, screenshot the tweet and search the kanji using radical search in your favorite dictionary.
fill your social media following list with target-lang creators you like. I follow gravure idols and h-artists. something you want to see will always beat something recommended by language learners - even a long time speaker. don't disregard their knowledge; rather you should take it with a bit of skepticism. their word is valuable as advice, not a word of god.
I cannot stress enough how important enjoying the process is. you wouldn't remember anything about computer programming if you didn't make something you wanted to exist or learn about. the same goes for language learning.