Jungle Juice is a superpower manhwa revolving around the college life of Su-Chan Jang and his experiences caused by a discontinued brand of pesticide spray called Jungle Juice, which turns people into human-insect hybrids.
When he was younger, Su-Chan sprayed a dragonfly with Jungle Juice, leading to their DNA mixing and him sprouting dragonfly wings. And while capable of hiding his wings during most of his adolescence, his secret comes out when he saves his crush from falling to their death. With his college life ruined and his crush left disgusted and afraid of him, Su-Chan is approached by another insect-human, Hui-Jin Park, who helps him integrate into the Nest — a secret sanctuary for bug people — after he hears promises of a cure for Jungle Juice. Now in a hidden society of hybrid superpowers, Su-Chan struggles to survive, overcoming his abandonment issues from his old life in the process. In this review, I hope to share not only my love for the art and the plot's premise but also my gripes with its at sometimes cliché and predictable writing.
First and foremost, the art of Jungle Juice is incredible, with the former hentai artist husband-wife duo JUDER contributing insane amounts to the story in visuals alone (though this series is entirely SFW). I have no issues with how the story is drawn and I doubt many other people would either. Just take a look at some panels yourself:
Chapter 1
Chapter 33
Chapter 35
Much of the manhwa’s focal interest is in its premise, with its fun portrayals of various insects and their unique associated superpowers. The writing is entertaining, with many of the gags and wholesome scenes between arcs becoming personal favourites. In addition, overall character development is cleanly presented as Su-Chan begins to acclimatise to his new life and wings while at the Nest's University.
My critiques with Jungle Juice predominantly lie in the predictability of its arcs and how much it suffers from the shounenesque tropes of fighting new villain after new villain. I found that the manhwa often used forgettable villians-of-the-day to progress the main character's abilities, never to appear again or flesh out much more of the story. Moreover, the direction of each arc is generally quite predictable, and the main characters suffer barely any losses past each of their initial individual tragedies.
Overall, Jungle Juice while having a slow start is definitely worth a try. It's funny, it's colourful, and it's original. I’m sure you won't regret reading it if you get the chance!
