A huge accident happens in today's Korea in the 21st century. For some reason, insects such as bees and ants become so big that they now eat people. Insects even lay eggs into human bodies, making them into slaves that behave just like zombies. It seems that the resistance of the humankind including military actions failed not too long ago, and later, existences such as 'the hybrid' between humans and insects that go beyond one's common sense appear. Hive is a fantasy, thriller and post-apocalypse webtoon in which the (possible?) main character Manager Eun-sung Lee, Deputy Ji-eun Sung and the Old Man (commonly called 'Halive') work together to protect family and friends and overcome the crises which approach them in the confusing world.

First, if we take a brief look at the genre itself, it's a bit far from scientific consistency, as it is indeed a title that is gaining wide popularity on LINE platform. The explanations for the insects' ecology and why the insects have become so large are suggested many times in the webtoon, but it is very much hard to tell if they are accurate. If you're looking for a science fiction genre, be aware that this piece is almost a fantasy of modern background. One could literally say that the big bees and ants take the place of zombies in other stories. Keeping that in mind, the artist depicts the source material of insects quite faithfully.

The webtoon series Hive is undeniably fun. Even if it is produced by the renowned artist Kim Kyu-sam, for a webtoon that exhibits a bunch of horrid insects and portrays an old man as the villain who often goes on a shooting spree to still stay in the top ranks after 100 episodes on LINE platform, it has to be of course interesting. Though the webtoon may lack in scientific evidence, it's attractive world and settings, fine quality illustrations which would have required manpower and resources, essential battle scenes which are definitely exciting and speedy, straightforward story development that effectively manages such a complicated story which can easily become dragging all come together to build a strong genre webtoon. If one starts talking about it's characters, I think the single presence of the character 'Halive', who is religiously supported by almost all readers would be enough to explain everything.

What I want to pay attention to as a reviewer is that 'Hive' is a successful transformation title of the artist Kim Kyu-sam. Needless to say, Kim Kyu-sam's representative title is 'Jungle High'. The webtoon is an omnibus webtoon consisting of craziness, humor, and some social criticisms. It is of a genre that is totally different from 'Hive', which is a serious and depressive webtoon, but strangely for me, who have checked out Jungle High on a regular basis, I can now perceive the influences of Jungle High on Hive as I'm reading it. To be precise, I can recognize Kim Kyu-sam's unique personality in Hive. The black comedies that just pop out in the middle of bloody battles, or how the characters are composed and arranged are very much like 'Kim Kyu-sam '.Even though the genre is completely different now. To put it simply, Kim Kyu-sam can be considered as an artist who can bring the genre fun while maintaining his own personality regardless of any genre of webtoons. Vigilante, which is also published on LINE along with Hive, is again receiving positive reviews from the readers despite having a separate story writer. Thus, it can likewise be the proof that Kim Kyu-sam is a skillful artist who can handle any genre at his will.