By Lesson 25, you are comfortably reading short paragraphs with ~100 N5 kanji (人, 見, 食, 行). They don't baby you with furigana on every single character, which forces you to actually learn the kanji.
Unlike Genki (its main rival), which often feels like "College Student Japanese," Minna no Nihongo introduces masu form first but quickly throws in plain dictionary form for internal thoughts. The example sentences sound like things actual adults say at work or in daily life, not just "This is a pen." n5 minna no nihongo
Visually, it looks like a 1990s technical manual. The main textbook is dense with tiny font, grey boxes, and zero color. Genki is cheerful and colorful; Minna no Nihongo feels like a tax form. If you need visual breaks, you will hate this. By Lesson 25, you are comfortably reading short
From page one, sentences are in kana and kanji. If you haven't memorized hiragana/katakana perfectly, you will drown in the first week. This is a pro for serious learners, but a con for hobbyists. The example sentences sound like things actual adults