Welcome, anime lovers. With the growing appreciation of anime, some passionate lovers mashed their passion with their culture. Hence, ‘Jamaica No Ja Makai‘, the first Jamaican anime, was made.

The project was created by Ethan Campbell-Reid, a filmmaker and Olympian who also serves as the cultural director and the voice of Kaito, the protagonist of ‘Jamaica No Ja Makai‘; and written and produced by Vincentian Tolga Akcayli.

Let’s get into the review

Okay, so I will give credit where it is due. This anime, produced by BlueTech Dynamics in association with the Japan Overseas Cultural Institute, is a major cinematic moment for Jamaica. Kudos for an original, Caribbean story with anime aesthetics.

‘Jamaica No Ja Makai‘ is actively seeking studio partners for animation development and a publisher to continue its planned six-volume series.

The introductory video they have on their YouTube channel is not the best. The animation was rough, and the writing was not much better past the historical worldbuilding. The heavy use of expletives throughout the pilot was another put-off.

At this point, it is not expected for the animation to be at the best quality; however, the product that is currently purchasable, the manga, is showing its true colours.

The artwork is beautiful with matching colour grading. The art style chosen shows a good mix of what would typically be anime style, but it still shows the talent of the artists. It was also a good touch putting the layout in the left-to-right reading style of typical manga.

The storyline flows a lot better in the written format, and I am excited for the follow-up volumes.  

I hope they get enough of an audience, so they get a chance to make their anime. If you want to see it for yourself, you can buy the manga or the graphic novel on Amazon or watch the first episode on YouTube.