To be honest, I watched a lot of Anime and plenty of dramas before I started to really learn the language, and it was *very* helpful in my case. I'm picking up vocabulary relatively quickly, because I've heard it in context at one point or another. As I was watching I picked up the different ways people spoke (proper vs casual), grammar, vocabulary, cultural references... Just be an *active* listener/watcher... I've also become quite addicted to J-Pop (or what I've been able to get my hands on at least )

So, IMHO, using all these to *supplement* your learning of Japanese is great and can be helpful.

If you are going to learn though Anime and drama, then definitely do some learning outside of that. Check out the books/software recommendation thread for other stuff you can do to teach yourself Japanese!

Good luck! =)


oh and as for suggestions, I don't think it really matters if it's 'realistic' or not, so I suggest starting with something you find interesting (the Ghibli/Miyazaki films are a great place to start). Bleach, Naruto, Eureka Seven, Detective Conan, FullMetal Alchemist, D.Gray-man, Soul Eater, are ones that come to mind that would be entertaining, to say the least, and are commercially available for purchase (online or at most video stores in the US) =D