What do you guys know that is effective for grammar? Is there any new good stuff out there? WaniKani’s got me covered for vocab, so what goes along with it well so that I can get natural with my grammar?
What are you looking for? Have you tried anything (for grammar) yet?
Is there anything in particular you’ve found does / does not work or works better / worse (audio, books, apps, software, websites, flashcards physical or computer) etc?
I am partial to textbooks and whatever listening practice I can get my ears on
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Personally I’m using a Genki 1 book that I got ages ago when I took Japanese classes, and I’m also using Tae Kim’s Japanese grammar guide: Introduction – Learn Japanese
Can’t say anything in terms of the success of it, but it’s available in multiple formats and is free.
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I’m interested in this topic as well, but I think it just kinda /depends/ y’know?
I like the Tae Kim’s Guide to Grammar app because I find it less annoying/daunting than way back when I tried the website. I’ve liked Human Japanese, I need to get back to it. It’s software that’s got pretty pictures, culture, quizzes, conversations with audio… etc.
For when you need a point /super/ in depth, there’s Imabi (website).
For a good grammar set to get, A Basic Dictionary of Japanese Grammar (and its follow ups, which I do not have) are great. I like some of the other books I have, too, but I’m just meh about using books for grammar in general, I prefer the computer, but All About Particles is decent, albeit basic. But cheaper.
Memrise you can get some basics from, for free, with a less nice SRS than WaniKani depending on the courses you choose.
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Fastest: Tae Kim’s guide
The best: I don’t know, but could be any sequential textbooks. Maybe, Genki? Or, Japanese from Zero?
Edit: WaniKani is definitely not a substitute for vocabulary studies. All of its vocab is meant to reinforce learning Kanji, not teach Japanese.
Assuming beginner levels these are what I’ve liked so far. Honestly, I’d just grab whatever fits your budget/time. There’s no real harm in using multiple resources (assuming a decent reputation). After a certain point there’s just no substitute for immersion anyway.
Free: probably Tae Kim’s Guide. Great for self pacing, and pretty casual, but dense.
Mobile: Human Japanese Beginner (No Kanji) + Intermediate (Few Kanji), avoids getting deep into english grammar, so it’s easy to read along with a lot of voice sample dialogues, but pretty much no exercises and the quizzes are a joke.
Traditional/Classroom: Genki. The definitive textbook experience. Plenty of useful supplementary materials as well. Every other japanese resource with user content will have something for it (anki, skritter, ect).
Honorable Mention: Japanese the Manga Way, it takes a very different approach to the order of introducing things, but it’s pretty dense and has less samples per topic. No exercises/supplementary material at all.
Half Life 3 / Left 4 Dead 3 / Portal 3 / Dota 3: EtoEto 
I have to mention Japanesepod101. If you like video explinations to things, I suggest it. I don’t know how much if the content is free, but you can try a month of premium for 10 cents (to pay for bandwidth.)
I’ve learned a lot with them. They have courses specifically for particle studies, verb conjugation, adjective conjugation, etc.
I find it pretty neat.
Also for a wider variety of grammar, I subscribe to Nihongosharks daily grammar email. Niko is an amazingly talented dude and explains grammar from JLPT 5 - JLPT1 etc. He tries to give vocab, nuances that are used, etc.
Those are the main two I use for grammar and supplement WKness. I have a hard time staying focused on textbooks haha.
My Japanese tutor recommended Genki and we work through that together, about a chapter a month. I’m currently on Chapter 8. To practice the vocab from it I was using Memrise but I’ve moved over to Renshuu which is a lot better, except that it doesn’t have mnemonics. It does have a lot more though, like kanji, sentences, grammar etc. I might use both, just using Memrise for the initial learning stage where a mnemonic can come in handy, and then reinforcing it on Renshuu, which gives you kanji practice as you go.
I also use Japanesepod 101 from time to time, more to get practice listening to Japanese than anything, although you do pick up bits of grammar and vocab as you go.