After a rough couple of years, conventions are slowly starting to pick up steam again, with great international guests and eager fans ready to come out in support of their passion for all things nerdy. Australia has also been blessed, as Crunchyroll is set to hold its first-ever Crunchyroll Expo convention in Melbourne on September 17-18th. The event is set to include live cosplay competitions, special screenings, and international guests.

Anime quickly became a mainstream global phenomenon throughout COVID due to its high-concept storytelling, intricate world-building, and colourful characters, which allowed many a great amount of escapism. As the genre has continued to gain mainstream acclaim, so has the accessibility for new fans as conventions such as Crunchyroll Expo continue to pop up all over the world. Conventions are great for allowing people to share in a community of creators and fellow fans alike by offering them the opportunity to connect to the subculture in celebration. Whether that’s by drawing incredible fan art, creating intricate cosplay costumes, or engaging in its prolific meme community, the anime subculture celebrates its community like no other.

For those new to the genre, however, anime with too many episodes, subtitles only, or perhaps too eccentric to immediately get into can be huge turn-offs. To help you with finding immediate quality shows, here are a few classics and modern shows to get started with.

Dragon Ball Z

Arguably the most iconic anime franchise in the world, Dragon Ball has been a mainstay in pop culture due to its amazing fight scenes and kids on the playground Kamehameha’ing you. The series can be quite confusing to get into however, as there are more Dragon Ball series than there are good Zack Snyder films.

If you’re looking to dive right in and see what all the Fortnite hubbub is about, I’d personally recommend Dragon Ball Z. The series follows a now adult Goku as he and his companions defend earth against iconic villains such as Frieza, Cell and Vegeta. The original Dragon Ball isn’t necessary viewing as Dragon Ball Z gives you plenty of context to what happened in the prior series as is,…