100% same here. I vividly remember picking up those dark green Jungle packs with my mom at the toy store. I don’t have as strong memories towards Base.
Wholeheartedly agree. Base holos are for the stonkers, Jungle non-holos are for the artwork appreciators 
Yes, yes and yes. Himeno rightfully deserves most of the praise for Jungle. It’s almost as much “her” set as 1997 Carddass is Sugimori’s. She’s the one that gave it that special magical flavour.
And you’re SO right with your last two points: having a set that gets straight to the point of its theme, with 100% quality and no unnecessary fluff, is an underrated quality for sure - and barely ever again has it been done as well as in Jungle.
Since Jungle is my favorite set (ever so slightly ahead of Vending), I love basically all cards of this little gem of a set. I’ll just highlight a few from the artists other than Himeno.
… and let’s not forget the 1st Edition Ivy Pika. Not only for the first Pikachu TCG artwork ever released, but most importantly for one of the most interesting release stories in all of Pokemon.
