Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-216.186.132.194-20150907000841/@comment-26239285-20151005070621

Anime and manga help you get used to casual Japanese, but there is no shortcut to learning the language properly. In the first instance, go to your local library (or bookshop if you can afford it) and see what material they have and start there. Once you have the basics, then you can supplement from anime etc.

There are some good websites like www.guidetojapanese.org that can help along the way, but I'm afraid it's very different to European languages and there are no shortcuts to taking years of study.

Songs use a variety of styles from sounding like Shakespeare all the way to sounding like Naruto, so to understand them you need exposure to more than just anime.