Plus & Minus (2022)

Short and very sweet

This was a cute little series. It had a simple but nice story and it was good to see more mature characters rather than ones centered around high school or university age.

I really enjoyed it up until episode 10 (probably why it has the lowest rating in the whole series). The main couple had spent up until then being all "we'll always be together" and "no matter what, we will face it together." Then, all of a sudden, Li Kung is all "we have to break up" without explaining the reason why. Instead, he does the trope I probably hate the most where he makes the decision for both of them and says "I don't love you anymore." Like, seriously, why is that such a popular cop-out trope? How is anyone supposed to come back from that and say "just kidding!" like everything is all fine and dandy afterward? The only saving grace was that it gets resolved the very next episode instead of being dragged out for too long. But still, I absolutely loathe that trend and it unfortunately was the main cause this didn't get a higher rating from me.

Even so, this was still an enjoyable watch overall. Another good one to cleanse the palate with in between heavier dramas.

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Taiwanese BL hit different

I don't know what makes Taiwanese BL series so good. Almost without exception they are original, captivating, touching and cute. As with this one. It grabbed me from the start and did not let go until the last ep. One explanation is the acting. All characters do a fantastic job. Another could be the utterly blinding visuals of the actors. Or maybe it's the down to earth take on lgbtq issues... Whatever is the reason, this BL is amazing. I cried so hard when Fu Ligong broke it off... And I cried even more when I realized why he did it. The wedding was the cutest thing and Yukis hair should have its own series.

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Nothing new, but sweet and cute

I enjoyed this series, but to be honest, the story isn't exactly full of surprises.

The main reason I started watching this series is Shi Cheng Xuan, whom I noticed playing a minor supporting character in the History series. I remember thinking he was really cute and wished he would be the lead in a BL series. So this series is like a wish come true.

There are two couples in this story, and they are both likable. However, I wish there had been more nuances in the portrayal of Zheng Ze Shou. Prior to finding out about Fu Li Gong's crush on him, he seems to have some feelings for Fu too, but he also seems unable to accept what he has found out. It would actually make more sense for him to have been harboring some romantic feelings towards Fu, and the transition from his initial reaction to his acceptance of Fu's love could have been more natural.

As for the other couple, the development of their relationship is a little sudden (or did I watch a censored version?) as they duo are drinking one moment and then waking up beside each other the next moment. Again, they are a likable couple, but the development in their relationship is somewhat haphazard. At least there is a back story for Fu and Zheng, which makes them easier to relate to.

Perhaps focusing on the story of just one couple is enough (though I might melt if I see more scenes of the ridiculously cute Shi Cheng Xuan).

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Sooooo, I actually liked this series, the main couple had an amazing chemistry but it seems tht everything happened too fast. What I mean is, the whole series had a good story and the actors did a great job, but everything seemed so rush, I don't even know how to explain it. I think the series were too short for such long history, the secondary couple were together out of nowhere we don't even know how they start to fall in love with each other. The break up scene was to short they didn't give us details, it looks like everything was half given? IDK
Even though I had this opinion all actora were amazing, the kissing scenes were FIREEEE besties i loved and they nailed it

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Good for a one time watch

"Friends-to-lovers" is usually a trope I like very much, and they did it justice until Zheng Ze Shou and Fu Li Gong got together. From then on, it was rather cheesy and the conflicts too clichéd for me.

The acting by the main couple was excellent, especially when they were still figuring out their feelings or what to do about them.
I also loved the two fathers and Nikita. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the second couple; especially Yuki's actor stayed bland, he mostly had the same gentle smile, whoever he looked at and however he felt -- I noticed it the most when he was fighting with the laundromat owner. It really didn't help that he didn't get any backstory (we only know his father was Japanese and died when Yuki was a child, which makes Yuki's "ohayou" even more pretentious).

The song that was used for the opening credits got on my nerves (it also was non-sensical); and the piano background music was distracting from what was happening on-screen.

It's a shame that the female roles did not get more development. The sister is unfortunately the stereotypical little sister (even though she's somewhere in her early twenties), the little girl has no personality whatsoever, apart from being a bit sassy. And Nikita's character, who was so cool and mysterious and generally an impressive woman with her own business, was ruined by that stupid and unnecessary crush.

I did like that we got to see two lawyers working together, and it was an excellent idea to have them be divorce lawyers in a romance -- the drama was strongest when the cases made Ze Shou and Li Gong think and talk about love and marriage, and reflect on their own love story. I wish the writer had used this also to resolve the conflicts of the second half. Together with maybe more time to show the father's side (because I think it's not very clear why he reacts the way he does). this would have made the second half better.

Overall, the story's flow is good, it's done well -- though not so good that I'd want to watch it a second time.

[cross-posted to VIki]

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OKAY, BUT THEN EPISODE 10 HAPPENED

STORY. Everything was okay until Episode 10. This is when LI GONG suddenly broke up with SHOU. nd what’s the reason? He thought Shou was just being kind to him and couldn’t say no. That was such a big turnoff. That forced conflict. So, although Episodes 11 and 12 were good, the damage has been done.

CAST / ACTING. SHOU (actor: MAX LIN) is more natural than LI GONG (actor: SHI CHENG HAO). LI GONG has many awkward moments and you see and feel that he’s just acting. And to think, this is Max Lin’s first role, not counting a 2020 series in which he had a guest role). The second couple both have awkwardness in their acting. This is YUKI’s first acting job, so it’s understandable. JIAN, on the other hand, has had main and support roles before. The supporting cast are all good except for Ling-Ling. I don’t know, her acting is too wooden for me.

For me, MAX LIN carried the series. His bubbly, endearing personality was the saving grace of this drama. LI GONG’s personality, in contrast, is somber and a little dark, so he sufferer in comparison to Max’s character, Shou.

TECHNICALS. Cinematography was above average, especially the first scenes (flashback). Very impressive. Though the “magic” seemed to fade towards the end. Music is also very good, especially the opening and closing songs.

8 / 10

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Flawed writing + odd narrative choices: missed the mark despite great chemistry between the leads

This drama is a BL friends-to-lovers story. It is usually one of my favourite trope but the writing disappointed me quite a bit here. The main couple is cute and there is some proper pining but the development of the relationship is too quick to be believable.

I don't know why: there are similar length BL that totally manage to make it convincing but here I had some trouble to adhere to the story. I think it is because this drama wants to be too many things at the same time and so the character growth is not that well built. I would have preferred the scenario focusing a bit more on the development and the questioning inherent to such a big shift in the relationship of the two friends rather than having a final arc with a lot of noble idiocy...

In addition to those odd narrative choices, I also did not care at all about the secondary storyline with the other couple. It took too much time away from the central story...The show seemed to try to do too much: a secondary couple, the law cases, some fight scenes...Doing so, it missed the mark for me. The screenwriter should have kept the series more in a slice-of-life genre and focusing much more on the central couple evolution. I would personally removed all what concerned the secondary couple which I did not find interesting at all. Maybe this way, the show could have taken the time for the law cases to make more sense and to become more than a quite obvious plot device to stir the characters in a specific direction.

Despite the flaws in the writing, I quite enjoyed the performance of the two main leads. They had a good chemistry together despite the strangely paced script and their more intimate moments were well executed with some truly hot kissing scenes. I was less convinced by the actors playing the secondary couple. I'm not sure if my lack of interest is due to their acting or if it completely the fault of the story.

I enjoyed the soundtrack with the overall pop vibe of the intro song. I found the production quite standard with a bit of over-the-top making, especially during a couple of the fight scenes or the more dramatic ones.

I would recommend this to people looking for a BL romance with a friends-to-lovers trope. It is not that well executed here with the coming to terms with the feelings for the main couple being too quick. If you do not have huge expectation, you might find it enjoyable.

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amazing until it wasn't

plot: i was so in love with this show when i started watching. it truly is a lovely cast and concept and the two main couples were so sweet. however this bl falls into the trap of ruining it's progress by adding unnecessary conflict. i basically switched off at that point. it made my favourite character go to my least favourite.

acting: overall loved the acting and chemistry despite zheng qi lei leaving much to be desired at some points.

OST: this is a nitpick but i do wish it wasn't used as often as it is. the song became very annoying when nearing the end of the show.

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Hard one to rate

Well, first things first, I'm sad I haven't watched this series earlier! It was on my to watch list before it even aired, but then I didn't know if I should watch it or not, because of the comments I read on social media, so I was delaying watching it until last night ?

I really dom't know how to rate this drama, I both liked and disliked it ?

Liked:
The chemistry between Max and Cheng Hao was TOP NOTCH, I really really liked their acting! And because they did an amazing job, I loved their characters!
I loved all the cute/good things, moments and details this drama gave us, both with couples and the side characters.
It was a cute and refreshing drama to watch, wow I can't stop thinking about CTS and FLK (okay idk if I should put CZS&FLG or CZS&FLK so don't come at me ?) these two made ma all happy and giggly through the series ? All their scenes were really good! ?

Disliked:
Now the hard part...
First of all I don't know what to think about *THAT ONE EPISODE*
I can kinda understand why what happened in that episode had to happen, you know, sometimes we prioritize the happiness of other's insted of our own happiness, but if by what we're choosing, none of us is happy... than that's definitely not a good option ? so personally I didn't like that episode, if they really had to make it that way, they could've make it a little different/better.
Now the second main couple... I'll be honest, I haven't watched Matt's other dramas so I can't say he's a bad actor! But I just think that this role wasn't suiting for him.
It's nice how we got this type of a father-daughter story, it's not something we can see often in this concept, it's supposed to be mature, but it wasn't portrayed right (just my opinion) and I think 2nd couple's story was a little boring and longer than it should've been... I'll be honest again, I watched some of their scenes, but I also skipped some of their scenes...
The "WHY DID THIS HAPPEN" episode and 2nd couple made me go from "I absolutely love this drama" to "now what? do I like it or no?"

So, without that one episode and unnecessary moments that 2nd couple had, I could've easily rated this drama 9/10 or even 10/10 (just my taste ?‍♀️)

But I'll give it an 8/10, because in the end it is a good drama with some flaws ?
I'm giving it a rating like this, because, if you just skip the unnecessary parts, it's really good!

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Clean and simple

I really enjoyed this! It’s super easy watch that I think could easily be a comfort watch.

The plot isn’t super complicated or anything, it’s really just a best friends to lovers, unrequited to requited love story. I liked the fact that they got together pretty early and the subsequent storyline followed their challenges.

There’s a super unnecessary breakup but after they get back together they give the viewer enough time to enjoy the sweetness again.

I hate the OST. If I hear “you’re my rabbit” one my time I’m committing a war crime.

This show was literally like a Taiwanese BL reunion lol. We had the leads from Be Loved In House: I Do, one of the leads from History 4, and the leads from MODC reuniting lol. I’m sure there were some others as well that I missed. I don’t know what strings they had to pull to get them all together but kudos. The MODC reunion made me tear up lol (this is the second show they’ve reappeared in together).

The leads have great chemistry. I liked the side pairing as well.

Overall, it’s a recommend from me.

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