Sometimes I have trouble deciding how difficult the card is in Anki. A kanji often doesn't pop into my head immediately, but the story does and I can usually get it right from there. Does that make the card easy? Or if I make a really small mistake should I fail the card completely? I ask because my intervals are getting really long and I don't want to hurt myself in the end.

Thanks.

I think it's up to you. I hardly ever click easy because I don't think they are yet! But I am aiming to be fluent, so "easy" for me means I can read it without reading it, just like the English words here.

But sometimes when I have been learning something just to get familiar with it, not to really know it, then I have been more relaxed about it. For my sentences (J->E recognition for now), at the moment I'm rating just on remembering the readings, not the meanings. I will change this soon when i'm more proficient.

Nowadays if something is not clear and I really want to know it, it goes back in the "again".

What do other people think?

Usually I will "again" the card if it is new or I have completely forgotten the meaning. I will make a small cram deck to review cards to get them in my short term memory. When I come across a word that I knew but I had to take time to think about it I will click "hard." As time goes by and I have learned the word and I can smoothly answer it I will click "good." I click "easy" only when the word is really easy and I feel I will remember it whenever it will shows up again.

I try not to click "hard" all the time because I usually will get a lot of "reviews due" later on that week. Lately I have had quite a bit of card reviews piled up from intense studying. So if I know for sure that I am comfortable with a word I will give myself a break and click "good" to help ease down on the massive reviews.

I'm the same with Mizunooto, "if something is not clear and I really want to know it, it goes back in the "again."

I always click easy if I don't have problems remembering it. If it really takes a while to come to mind, I'll click hard though. I basically add the cards and the next day I review them. Even if it takes me 5 seconds to think about it, I click easy. If the stories are good enough you'll still remember them 7 days from then, and if you don't, srs will make you remember!

I always grade myself by this standard:

Easy = Kanji that instantly pop into my head without even thinking about the story. I don't really choose this option much, only for the much simpler kanji.

Good = Once I see the key word, I immediately remember the story (or the main elements of the story) and quickly work the kanji out from there.

Hard = If it takes longer to remember the story or some kind of detail about it, or if I have doubts about the kanji I wrote, but still get it correct.

Again = If I'm completely blank on the kanji and story, or (of course) if I'm wrong.

I'll choose Hard if I make a very small mistake in the writing (like in the stroke order), but if I have the primitives in the wrong place or leave one out, I will fail it.