Romance C-drama Overdo with Zhang Ling He and Wang Chu Ran Opens to Scathing First Impression Reviews with a Litany of Complaints
The C-drama Overdo with Wang Chu Ran and Zhang Ling He dropped on Sunday the 19th and its a testament to how much buzz was going into the drama that the first reviews are this strong in sentiment. Sadly it’s a negative wave of sentiment as the first impressions are overwhelming a mass of complaints. The AI created opening sequence is universally mocked and hated, the drama filters are dialed up to overkill on every single person onscreen, the director keeps focusing on close ups and cross cutting between characters in a scene, the special efforts are comedically bad including CGI backdrops, and quality of the entire production feels like a mini drama level. There are even hilarious accusations to audit the production for embezzlement because where did the big budget money go because it’s clearly not seen in the end product. The drama has just premiered and so far the viewership is strong but all signs point to a steep drop to come if indeed these early reviews are true and the drama sucks way more than it should. Alas, what a waste of two visual tops paired together.
Their acting is so horrendous, that I have no words. Yes, direction is bad, AI use, even music sucks etc but their acting? Horrifying.
I am am not sure who is worse, both of them are terrible.
I completely agree. There is no chemistry between zang linghe and wan churan. You can’t see them longing for each other if it’s not pushed in your face. T
Usually cutscene on social media can make something looks good even if it’s not. But yeah even the cutscene looks bad enough lol
How long ago was this filmed?
It wrapped up end of September, 2025.
Not every drama will be a smash or hit. From what I read not many complain about the actors but pretty much everything else. Which is practically the drama itself. Did not see this coming at all. lol Hopefully the actors survive this one. Not so sure about the director and production crew.
Wow this drama is so bad lol. Everything is bad. The plot is all over the place, the directing n editing is choppy, bad loud bgm, caricature performances n characters. The AI slop, cheap looking sets and cinematography. The leads acting is nothing amazing either and for such a makjang type toxic love drama they have no chemistry or heat at all. I didnt expect it to be good but I never expected this level of bad.
This is like Pursuit of Jade without the good cinematography.
Lead and supporting actors are good looking, story is relatively fast-paced.
Its a pity ZLH and WCR didn’t collaborate on The Lament of Autumn instead because the production looks much higher quality, but the actors are less attractive.
The whole drama is horrible. Slomo shots,closeup shots with eye hurting heavy smooth filters in the drama,so far no chemistry between actors, their stiff acting performance with dubbed sound is so bad. It seems all budget was spent on makeup and costume of male lead and female lead, cause they are acting too camera conscious.
The thing that puzzles me the most is why this director, with a series of flops under his belt, is still getting S+ drama projects.
He was the “genius” behind Princess Gambit, a project that had Liu Xueyi and Meng Ziyi as the leads, but the plot was nonsensical and the CGI wolves looked like straight out of a low-budged movie from the 70s.
It is disheartening to see that this guy is currently (mis-)directing Tales of the Floating World and is also in line to bungle up Revenge.
It really is no wonder that iQiyi is in financial trouble because they are making such bad choices.
This looks very much like another case of connections counting more than qualifications.
I couldn’t sit through second ep. Hahaha.
The whole drama is horrible and Zlh still doesn’t improve his acting. Tbh, someone with Zlh’s level of acting skill shouldn’t have debuted. He’s watchable when he doesn’t make any facial expression, but once he does, his expression looks weird, which reminds me of his performance in his first drama, Maiden Holmes. If in PoJ he was given Foundation General nickname, in this drama he’s called Lipstick Warlord.
I see a lot of people saying viewers shouldn’t compare Pursuit of Jade and Overdo. But honestly, I don’t think that’s the real issue.
As viewers, we simply want to be entertained. That’s why it is called ENTERTAINMENT.
Regardless of genre, a drama should make us feel something. If it’s a thriller, I want to be on the edge of my seat. If it’s a romance, I want butterflies and goosebumps when the leads finally get together. If it’s a mystery, I want to be desperate to uncover the truth. If it’s an action drama, I want the fight sequences to leave me in awe.
With Overdo, seven episodes in… I just don’t feel much.
That’s probably my biggest criticism.
Even if Zhang Linghe’s character were to die tomorrow, I honestly don’t think I’d cry, simply because I don’t feel connected to him yet.
And considering this is a romance C-drama, yet the leads are already kissing by Episode 3 before I’ve had the chance to become invested in their relationship. We see them meet, apparently fall in love, and then tragedy strikes almost immediately. Instead of feeling heartbroken, my reaction was, “Wait… what?”
Why do they love each other so deeply? What drew them together? When did their relationship develop? I don’t feel like the story gave me enough time to experience that journey with them.
Your questions are precisely all about the drama plot. All the whys, whats and hows. Not all drama begins the same.
I feel like a lot of people are too impatient about the storytelling due to instant gratification.
Overdo is kind of old-school drama that’s reminiscent of old Taiwanese (Chiung Yao) super dramatic melodrama.
I tried watching this because I enjoy the era and genre but holy cow it’s bad! I need to add this complaint to all the other ones: Zhang Ling He is too skinny in this and you can see his clothes eating him up! Its not flattering at all.
LOL. Omgah. 😶😂
Glad I didn’t start this lmaooo
I’m sure the people who insist on TALL male leads and ‘visuals’ are quite happy with this drama.
It’s bad. 3/10
I think zlh is 1 of the good looking actors who can actually act
But his chemistry w wcr is so flatt
It sits below record-shattering outliers while continuing to remain a Top-Tier commercial performer for 2026 releases. Performance metrics premiered at 16.4 and climbed to 17.7 for 2nd-day episodes 6-7. While most commenters on this page disliked many technical aspects, many commenters elsewhere are praising ZLH’s acting and saying the progression of the storyline is far more interesting. To each their own
Oh people still care about ZLH, be it in a favorable or negative light. lol. Other actors just can’t generate this many opinions about themselves. Honestly, I’ve been so entertained by all the buzz he still creates after PoJ hit. lol
Online reviews for Overdo are totally polarized. Like many popular C actors, ZLH fans and haters are actively fighting to push their own narratives. lol. I wasn’t originally planning to watch it since C period dramas are usually a major turnoff for me. However, I might check it out now just out of pure curiosity. I want to judge it for myself, completely uninfluenced by all the polarized critiques.