SEOUL (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The highly anticipated 7 Fates: Chakho, a joint project between Naver Webtoon and Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind the septet BTS, is drawing mixed reactions from both webtoon and BTS fans in South Korea and other countries.

The first episode of the series starring BTS members was released on Saturday (Jan 15).

7 Fates: Chakho is an urban fantasy series revolving around the tiger hunters, or chakhogapsa, of Korea's Joseon Dynasty (1392 to 1910). The protagonists are seven boys who band together to overcome various trials.

It received a 7.70 rating as of Monday, which is a harsh start considering most productions on the Naver platform have ratings above 8.

Many shared concerns about Hybe's first project in the genre.

"I really think the series is good enough to premiere as its own project, but why did they have to relate it to BTS?" a reader commented on the first episode.

"The subject of the webtoon was refreshing, the illustrations were good as well. But I wonder what is the connection between the webtoon and BTS," another comment read.

"It seems like Hybe wanted to expand their business in the webtoon industry with BTS as an excuse."

The two comments attracted more than 5,000 and 4,000 likes, respectively.

However, 7 Fates: Chakho received a 9.91 rating on Naver Webtoon's global service platform as of Monday.

The series will be updated every Saturday in 10 different languages including Korean, English, Japanese and more.