What began as an online joke from young Vincentian film-maker Tolga Akcayli has turned into his passion project Jamaica No Duppy — Rise of the Conqueror, a comic book and animated feature that is a cultural mash-up, to say the least.

“It all started as a joke that I uploaded on TikTok,” Akcayli told the Jamaica Observer.

That joke came about as Akcayli noted how Jamaican patois could be voice matched to that of many modern Japanese animation. And, 1.35 million views later, the concept had captured the regional zeitgeist. Over time, what was a joke somehow solidified itself as a promise to his social media following and Akcayli decided to take the plunge to bring things to fruition.

“I looked at all the comments and they were saying the same thing to each video — Tolga you’re funny, but not that funny, where is the Jamaican anime you promised us? And I thought to myself, hold on a second, I didn’t promise anybody an anime, so what on Earth are you all talking about,” he said.

He further explained to his audience that, while he was familiar with Jamaican culture, he was not a Jamaican and the whole thing was a joke. That still wasn’t enough of a deterrent and the fans continued to demand his idea be brought to life.

“That video of me saying, ‘I don’t think I should,’ got 820,000 views of people saying Jamaica needs this,” he said.

The attention made him recognise that there was a potential market for such a series.

In 2021 he quietly began what would become Jamaica No Duppy — Rise of the Conqueror. Wanting to make sure it was as authentic as possible Akcayli did as much research as he could into Jamaican and Caribbean folklore. The story itself surrounds a group of Jamaican heroes brought together to save the country from mystical colonial British elements.

Self-funded to this date, Akcayli paid Jamaican artists to design the characters which he took to a Japanese animation studio for them to harmonise all the artwork into a production-ready anime style.

The trailer for Jamaica No Duppy — Rise of the Conqueror made its premiere at AnimeCom Fest in Jamaica on July 29. On July 31 it made its worldwide debut as part of a GoFundMe campaign to get a pilot episode done in 2024. The manga itself will be available sooner, December 2023, with a limited run of 5,000. 1,000 Founder’s Edition books will also be available offering behind-the-scenes content.

Once the pilot is done, Akcayli plans to take Jamaica No Duppy — Rise of the Conqueror to several streaming services to see if they would be interested in further funding and developing the anime.