I find that while they can be a ‘crutch’, English anime subtitles can also be useful tools for learning Japanese.
I often watch anime on Crunchyroll with my remote in one hand and my iPhone with Shirabe Jisho in the other.
Whenever I hear a word (distinctly enough) that I don’t know, I stop the playback and check the dictionary - comparing that with what I see in the subtitles.
I am also constantly comparing my own ‘in my head recognition’ of spoken words with what I see in the subtitles and noting the differences.
I do also have access to other sources of Japanese content, such as J-dramas and live broadcasts of news, weather, informational shows, sports, etc. without subtitles. It’s a tough slog, but not as difficult as it used to be, as I am evidently improving my listening comprehension over time.
For anime shows, I’m not yet ready to go cold turkey on the subtitles, because (at least for some series) I’m mentally and emotionally “invested” in the show to the point where I don’t want to miss out on fully understanding the dialog - but for other types of content that is less of a factor for me, and I’m not bothered by only getting the gist of what is going on. I also make use of the pause and replay features of the video player so that I can go over sections of dialog that I may trip over.
But I can certainly see some merit in the suggestions for turning off subtitles completely…
I am also going to look in to the recently-posted thread about a chrome extension that enables Japanese subtitles for certain shows on Crunchyroll.