jaryuu

You do need kanji in order to read but learning them is actually easier than it seems at first. It also gets easier the more you learn (kind of a snowball effect) AND you don't actually need to learn how to write them by hand (unless you want to), only remember their readings and meaning. It just takes a lot of time so I recommend not learning them separately out of context and instead simply read stuff that you like while searching them up. It will be more fun and easier to maintain motivation in the long run. Another tip: The more complex kanji are actually formed by other little ones (and radicals), which is the reason why it gets easier to recognize them the more you learn. So at first it's helpful if you at least learn a bunch of simple and common ones such as 日, 山, etc. since you'll be finding those inside of more complex ones. For example, you can find 日 inside of 草 and 山 inside of 屈.