I remember earlier versions of Anki that implemented the algorithm so literally that it would tell you that you couldn't learn new cards until you had reviewed the 500 cards in your backlog, a seemingly insurmountable task that would just cause you to procrastinate and get a bigger backlog. They revised that to make it more motivating, fortunately, partially by capping the amount of backlog it would present to you on any given day.
I'm using WaniKani for Japanese now -- it's not nearly as portable as Anki but it's the first integrated solution I've seen for Japanese, teaching kanji by a Heisig-like method alongside vocabulary that uses the kanji.
I used to use an Anki deck for Heisig's Remember the Kanji, but I found it entirely unmotivating to spend time every day learning symbols out of context. Imagine an English class about learning the alphabet song, except the song just keeps going, and by the time you're learning the tenth verse of the alphabet you're still not spelling any words. That's Heisig. It's a clever system of mnemonics but it's not a complete solution.
Now WaniKani has the opposite problem with motivation -- it ramps up far too slowly. It doesn't let you study ahead. On your first day using the system, you can only study something like 20 cards, and you only get more when you wait out the spaced repetition and prove you've mastered those, even though they are extremely simple radicals and numbers that you probably know already if you are interested enough in learning Japanese to seek out WaniKani. This must be terrible for on-boarding, but I'm putting up with it because it's still the most effective Japanese study method I've seen.
I'm using WaniKani for Japanese now -- it's not nearly as portable as Anki but it's the first integrated solution I've seen for Japanese, teaching kanji by a Heisig-like method alongside vocabulary that uses the kanji.
I used to use an Anki deck for Heisig's Remember the Kanji, but I found it entirely unmotivating to spend time every day learning symbols out of context. Imagine an English class about learning the alphabet song, except the song just keeps going, and by the time you're learning the tenth verse of the alphabet you're still not spelling any words. That's Heisig. It's a clever system of mnemonics but it's not a complete solution.
Now WaniKani has the opposite problem with motivation -- it ramps up far too slowly. It doesn't let you study ahead. On your first day using the system, you can only study something like 20 cards, and you only get more when you wait out the spaced repetition and prove you've mastered those, even though they are extremely simple radicals and numbers that you probably know already if you are interested enough in learning Japanese to seek out WaniKani. This must be terrible for on-boarding, but I'm putting up with it because it's still the most effective Japanese study method I've seen.