I just finished Trails in the Sky.

[Chaosblade]

*Raises hand*

Also I'm not really sure a good way to start. <_<

I'm using the Human Japanese app, it's available on all smartphones (even WP7! but not Blackberry) for $10 and there's a PC version for $30. I doubt it's best thing you could use and it's primarily beginner stuff (there's an "Intermediate" version coming out sometime later this year), but it seems pretty adequate to me. Explains everything in pretty simple terms and makes it easy to grasp, has stroke animations for kana, lots of sound clips for Japanese words from a native speaker, study quizzes and games, etc. The only it doesn't have that most "big" language software seems to have is speech practice/recognition.

Just going through the chapters will probably work for basic grammar and stuff, but it isn't really going to get you to learn kana and words though, but that's where Anki and a notebook come in. Brilliant little program for repetition study, which you'll want to do with new words and kana early on until you graduate to reading actual stuff. Like the Human Japanese people put up some short simple stories on their Facebook page you should be able to read based on what you learn in the app.

In Anki, I have decks for kana, words I've gone over in the app, and then lots and lots of simple sentences I've made myself using what I've learned. With the kana deck I show the sound and write the character on some big graph paper. For vocabulary, it has forward and reverse cards so it will show either the English word and I'll write the kana, or it will show kana and I'll just read the words in Japanese translate it in my head. Same with sentences, they're all written in kana, and I just read and translate them to myself.

It seems to be working for me, I just have trouble staying focused and keeping with it.

Edit: Blarg. I think I fixed all my typos. And I think this is kind of off topic I thought about making a thread about Japanese a while back but never bothered. Might be a good idea though. Especially if people who know the language want to drop in and offer tips and answer questions.

[Serge]

I started with Japanese Trainer on Nintendo DS two years ago and I learned very well all kanas, and some kanjis too. But then I couldn't continue to study, so now I do not remember anything XD
I will restart to study someday.