can you learn japanese with anime

Watching anime is good for vocabulary, but it doesn't help learn proper Japanese :)

I would say that it's not even good for vocabulary unless you're very confident with grammar, and can recognize words in long sentences in tandem with subtitles, since most of the worthwhile vocabulary is going to be embedded in dialogue. You'll pick up vocabulary quicker with manga and a dictionary. If the manga has furigana, this helps for looking up words, but can become a crutch if you just use it to read. I pick up vocabulary from video games mostly. ADV games let me take time to look up words, and the voice acting can help in most cases when I can't read or don't know a reading for the kanji.

I think it is good in a sense to learn and understand how shows cater to adults and children. If you cannot understand anime you have no chance of understanding the language. There is also a lot of slang and terms that are good to pick up and learn. it is good for immersing yourself in the language.

I learned a few simple words watching anime, like colors, numbers, animals, foods, etc. But not enough to make a complete sentence, or understand something without subtitles.

Yeah, I do that as well.  I see anime as just another source of media for listening to the language being spoken.  As with all things, repetition helps.  

I heard that it can help a lot, but you should wait until you've got a certain level of familiarity with Japanese. Say, a couple months of studying it. Then one of the best ways to use it is to:

(1) Watch it in Japanese with English subtitles
(2) Immediately rewatch it in Japanese with no subtitles

This way you already know (depending on memory) what they are saying and you can understand it from purely from the Japanese side of things.

Since most anime shows are 20 minutes, this technique would take about 40 minutes total. So it might not work too well if you don't have a lot of time to study each day.

Good luck!