TL;DR – I hope Suchan realises that even though he wants to go back to human society, that's not what he needs and he actually needs a place where people will accept him for who he is. The first few chapters from Jungle Juice set up amazing potential for themes and ideas regarding social norms, conformity to society, hiding behind a facade of normalcy and eventually being accepting of differences. It's done subtly, but not so much so, that the action part is still enjoyable without a bunch of deep and profound shit being shoved in your face every now and then, and as well enhances Suchan's character. I hope the author is able to utilise this in the future.
---- I wanna hope Suchan's mindset is gonna change from "I wanna go back to the human city and resume my life from before!!"; don't get me wrong, I think it definitely will, but it's been quite a while now and it still hasn't, nor has it been set up, so I'm just getting slightly worried.
See, other than its action, Jungle Juice has some REALLY good allegories and themes for fitting in, conformity, society, norms etc. which makes it quite an interesting read in comparison to a lot of other webtoons and manhwas. Most of them focus on a revenge plot and bettering oneself, and while, yes, they're fun to read, they don't really tackle ideas or send a message quite like JJ does, which separates it from the rest. That's what makes it so interesting and stands out from a lot of other webtoons, in my opinion.
I think the idea it's promoting is that not every place or everyone is going to except you for who you are, and that's okay. That there are always like-minded people, and there are always places for you, even if you're not "normal." That chasing normalcy and hiding yourself to fit in is unhealthy and draining, and not true happiness. You should embrace a place where you're truly accepted for being who you are. When Suchan is no longer wanted somewhere, he always finds a group of like-minded people that do want him, and accept him as is.
It's a GREAT theme, though not a particularly innovative. The allegory of NEST and Stray Dogs themselves, and the subtlety of this theme makes its message come off as fun and a good commentary, rather than preachy and in the reader's face. JJ seems to be gearing its direction towards this route, and also setting itself up to have themes of accepting differences in the future. However, Suchan has had an alarming lack of growth on his viewpoint.
I thought by now they would have planted the seeds of change in his mind, where he starts doubting himself and if returning to human society is what he really wants. However, I can see that maybe the author will let those conflicting thoughts occur when he's closer to getting Cinderella.
I'm still really enjoying JJ, but I hope Suchan is able to go from getting what he wants (back to human society) to getting what he actually needs in the end (acceptance from people who care about him). Otherwise, I'd feel like the story would be wasting its potential from the way they set everything up at the start.
TL;DR – I hope Suchan realises that even though he wants to go back to human society, that's not what he needs and he actually needs a place where people will accept him for who he is. The first few chapters from Jungle Juice set up amazing potential for themes and ideas regarding social norms, conformity to society, hiding behind a facade of normalcy and eventually being accepting of differences. It's done subtly, but not so much so, that the action part is still enjoyable without a bunch of deep and profound shit being shoved in your face every now and then, and as well enhances Suchan's character. I hope the author is able to utilise this in the future.
----
I wanna hope Suchan's mindset is gonna change from "I wanna go back to the human city and resume my life from before!!"; don't get me wrong, I think it definitely will, but it's been quite a while now and it still hasn't, nor has it been set up, so I'm just getting slightly worried.
See, other than its action, Jungle Juice has some REALLY good allegories and themes for fitting in, conformity, society, norms etc. which makes it quite an interesting read in comparison to a lot of other webtoons and manhwas. Most of them focus on a revenge plot and bettering oneself, and while, yes, they're fun to read, they don't really tackle ideas or send a message quite like JJ does, which separates it from the rest. That's what makes it so interesting and stands out from a lot of other webtoons, in my opinion.
I think the idea it's promoting is that not every place or everyone is going to except you for who you are, and that's okay. That there are always like-minded people, and there are always places for you, even if you're not "normal." That chasing normalcy and hiding yourself to fit in is unhealthy and draining, and not true happiness. You should embrace a place where you're truly accepted for being who you are. When Suchan is no longer wanted somewhere, he always finds a group of like-minded people that do want him, and accept him as is.
It's a GREAT theme, though not a particularly innovative. The allegory of NEST and Stray Dogs themselves, and the subtlety of this theme makes its message come off as fun and a good commentary, rather than preachy and in the reader's face. JJ seems to be gearing its direction towards this route, and also setting itself up to have themes of accepting differences in the future. However, Suchan has had an alarming lack of growth on his viewpoint.
I thought by now they would have planted the seeds of change in his mind, where he starts doubting himself and if returning to human society is what he really wants. However, I can see that maybe the author will let those conflicting thoughts occur when he's closer to getting Cinderella.
I'm still really enjoying JJ, but I hope Suchan is able to go from getting what he wants (back to human society) to getting what he actually needs in the end (acceptance from people who care about him). Otherwise, I'd feel like the story would be wasting its potential from the way they set everything up at the start.