Plus & Minus (2022)

Chemistry A+ Story B

I must say at first I wasn't going to watch this show but I ran out of BL's to watch and decided to give it a go and I must say it's quite heartwarming and I'm pleasantly surprised by how good it was.. will give this show a 7.5/10.. though I'm confused why the show has 12 episodes.. feels like it could wrap up by episode 9.. there isn't a major plot there. Side note : the lead looked so familiar and then I realized he was one of the boys in Bo Xiang's friend group in History 3 : Make Our Days Count. happy to see he got such a big role.. he was my favorite when I saw him in that.
The story could have used some work but I would recommend this to BL fans. I'm obsessed with Shi Cheng Hao who plays Li Gong and I hope we see more of him in the future.

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when the actors saved the show.

The 3 episodes are totally boring but from 4th, the episodes become very catchy... the production had a genius idea a law firm that solved marital problems, yet during 12 episodes, we had 3 cases and the rest of the show a boring dialogue, skipped.

The scenario is sorely lacking in depth and solid background, for example the character of "Zheng Ze Shou" accepts the love of his friend just so as not to lose his friendship with him which dates back 20 years, something illogical and useless... His father who refuses his homosexual relationship, instead of deepening this, he is treated as (old fashion) as if his son is following a fashion (personally I was shocked)... The character of "Fu Li Gong" is in love with his friend since high school, and "Zheng Ze Shou" knows it very well yet when he accepts "Fu Li gong's" illogical and bogus argument and part ways with him... frankly, whatever.

For me, the Great Discovery is the extremely talented actor "Shi Cheng Hao", very deep in his acting, his emotional traits or his intimate scenes, something extremely rare with handsome actors who hide their bad acting in the scenes. intimate (like the Bl Thai) ... or who are good actors but too reserved in the daring scenes Bl.

The actor "Max Lin" is an excellent actor too only if he stops his extremely theatrical way of acting which does not adhere at all with his character or the romantic series.

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Mundane, but Good.

This is more of a the life story of two divorce lawyers who've gone through thick and think together their whole lives.
What's good about it? The leads definitely. Their characters are just the opposite of each other, but their genuine care and understanding for another was excellently portrayed. (I've yet to see a Taiwanese series with mediocre actors. These two were really good.)
There are several scenes where they talk about how they view their profession and divorce which I found enlightening.
The second couple was Yuki, a laundromat owner whose name I still do not know and his daughter Ling Ling. They depicted a different side of life - one of them being cool and unafraid of changes while the other adamantly sticks to the ghosts of the past.
Plenty of supporting characters, both big and insignificant play a role in shaping their actions, so, skipping some parts of it might be not the best idea. (I did it and had yo backtrack and rewatch to know thr context.)
While I did like the couples, the cases and the parental relationships, there were episodes which could've been significantly shorter. Mind you, this is roughly 25minutes each, but the episodes following EP7 where unfortunately, a bit too... ad nauseam? This is a common problem in dramas as a whole, LGBTQ+ or not. Once the main point is done, they fumble around. But, the pacing did pick up, but the drama lost me at EPs 8 - 10.
I'd recommed this if you just need something to cool off.

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Doesn't even come close to the current standard for BLs

I chose to give the series a 6 instead of a 5 because, at the end of the day, I was able to watch the whole thing. I want to list the things that I liked about it in case you're undecided but you're looking for reasons to start watching.

- The main characters look good together. I felt that their scenes were pretty cute, enough to keep me engaged. I also heard that Max and Hao are an actual couple in real life (cmiiw): if that's true then watching the series is a good way to support queer representation from people who are actually queer themselves.
- The story is straightforward and there's no risk to lose track of anything going on. The episodes are also about half an hour each, so it doesn't take too long to finish either, in case you're looking for something that isn't too demanding.
- In case you're a fan of Taiwanese BLs, you can find a few cameos from different BLs, more specifically: "Be Loved In House: I Do", "HIStory 3: MODC", and "HIStory 4".

Unfortunately the good things I can say about this series end here. Now, for what I found disappointing:

- The plot. The main trope is "childhood-friends-to-lovers", which is a very popular trope, but I believe that one can easily work with the most popular trope and give a creative spin to it. This doesn't happen in P&M, where it looks like the writers just filled the story with tropes and clichés and expected them to work on their own, without proper writing. The events arrive one after another without any sort of smooth transition, build-up, or even logic. I felt like I was watching a live-action fanfic, and I'm not talking about the good kind of fanfic.
- The two main characters are supposed to be best friends, but to be entirely honest they looked more like colleagues who get along. Their so-called chemistry was nowhere to be found, unless you consider cheesy set phrases and kisses "chemistry". The development of their feelings and thoughts is not there either, so I felt confused the entire time about whether they actually liked each other or not, since it looks like they're just going with the flow.
- The secondary couple, if possible, was worse. I felt like they could have been replaced by two mannequins, and the plot would still work somehow. As crazy as it might sound, I thought that Li Gong and Ze Shou's fathers were a better romantic couple than them, without even being a couple in the first place.

Overall, it felt sloppy. I can see the potential in a story like this one, so I don't believe that it's complete rubbish, but the result overall feels undercooked. If refined and taken proper care of, it could be MUCH better. As it is, I can't bring myself to recommend it.

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Deeper on theme than relationships

There was good stuff here. Some interesting themes and thought-provoking ideas. A pretty good mix of humor and angst. The actors did a good job. And I always adore childhood-friends-to-lovers. Overall, it was pretty good. But I was a little disorientated by some choices. It appeared the show was more invested in exploring the nature of divorce, than going deep on the relationships; the relationships were there to serve the theme, not the other way around. Which isn't wrong. Some people might enjoy it. But I felt some important moments weren't quite given the attention they deserved.

I loved the main couple, individually and as a couple. The start of their relationship was great. I loved that we got hints they'd both been in love forever, but Fu Li Gong became aware of it much, much earlier—which fits their characters. Given Zheng Ze Shou's personality, I'm not surprised he went turbo-fast once he became aware of his own feelings. Li Gong's freak out in the second half also made sense. He hid his feelings for a long time, scared of how their relationship might change; then everything did change, very suddenly, without any warning, and he didn't have the chance to process the changes or the consequences of the changes. A freak out at some point was inevitable, and I probably would've been disappointed if it hadn't come. Even so, I think the show didn't handle that entire conflict as well as it could have. Even though I understand why Li Gong reacted like he did, the show only presented the surface level. They accidentally make his anxieties seem shallow, and like he came to that decision unbelievably easily, given how invested he was in the relationship. The resolution is also a bit too easy, given the big emotions must have been going on. Given how long these two loved each other, and how much they had to lose if things went wrong (which is the entire point of the childhood-friends-to-lovers trope!!) the whole conflict kinda played out like just another disagreement and reconciliation. That being said, I like that Ze Shou eventually called him out (gently) for lying.

I don't really have much to say about the second couple. They were okay to watch, but I didn't get invested in them. Don't know why. They just didn't grab my attention.

In summary, I'm glad I watched it, and I might re-watch it to see how I feel the second time around. If my opinion changes I'll add a note to the end of this review. It's possible I was just thrown off by how unusual the show was in it's approach. Normally, a show that explores a super deep and emotional concept like divorce, will mirror that depth and emotion in the relationships. This show didn't quite match the energy. They went deep on the concept, but didn't mirror that intensity at all in the relationships, so I was left feeling the relationships were surface level and lacking (even though I might not have otherwise felt that way). All that said, I'm not sure that this approach would suit my taste anyway. I can like shows that keep things light. I like shows that take things deep. But if I can only have deep themes or deep relationship, I'd rather a deep relationship with light themes, than heavy themes with relatively surface-level relationship. But that's just me. If I end up re-watching it (which I'm not sure I will) I'll let you know if I change my mind on anything.

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Funny to call this show 'Plus & Minus', when the main couple is everything but the usual "opposites attract". They're both the same age, both the same profession, both the same clothing style, both the same... sex. At the beginning, they actually seemed like brothers to me:) But, after I looked more closely, one of them is shorter, sweet faced, super cute... and has a serious personality. While the other looks more peculiar, acts more carefree and flamboyant. Watching them discover the feelings for each other - with one of them only facing those while drunk, while the other, the more quiet and shy one, actually be the first to address them head on - was a treat and I enjoyed it all including the music (I liked the ending song WAY more than the opening song... couldn't resist fan-making my own opening credits:) What I skipped completely was the second couple, as I found both the guys super ugly, and I am shallow like that;) I liked the little law office setting and small "divorce cases of the week" the two main guys were solving, and the fact those did not occupy too much screentime. The screentime, however, proved the biggest weakness here. Because I had the feeling it all fleeted too quickly... While I liked everything the show contained, the episodes were simply so short there was not much to go by.

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cute drama & worth the watch, but many plot holes

This drama is a tad overhyped in the comments…

Story: it was dry at parts and the relationship backstories where kind of confusing, because there where a lot of flashbacks and plot holes. The difficulties they have with their relationships felt so thrown in to make the drama longer. There was a lot of symbolic moments and flashbacks… it got kinda cheesy after a while. Also, the main couple both worked as divorce lawyers and that part I found just a tad dull at times. The ending also felt pretty elaborate and I skipped most of it as I felt like the drama was already to a close enough.

Acting: Honestly what saved this drama. Both couples had good chemistry and I enjoyed watching their relationships progress. While there where cliche parts, overall it was so wholesome and the way the actors portrayed everything made it okay. There’s this really cute girl, Ling Ling, and she made the drama just a 100 times cuter!

Music: pretty good. I actually kinda liked the song.

Rewatched: I feel like it’s hard to rewatch dramas to begin with, but I definitely say this one is worth at least one if you have the time.

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Harmonie der Charaktere

Die Sotryline an sich ist gut, aber man hätte sie mehr ausbauen können. Der Plott war für mich so,class ich schon vorhersehen konnte was genau passieren wird. Und an manchen Stellen hat man sich gesehen, dass die Schauspieler nicht genau wussten was ihre Aufgabe ist.
Die Charaktere harmonieren gut miteinander, wobei ich sagen muss, manches ging mir etwas zu schnell da hat mir etwas an Plott gefehlt.
Ich würde sie jetzt nicht nochmal schauen wollen, dafür hat sie mich zu wenig in ihren Bann gezogen.
All in all würde ich diese Serie dennoch empfehlen, weil sie eine unschuldige Liebe zeigt, und Verbundenheit zwischen den Protagonisten.

Was ich allgemein sehr gut finde, dass mittlerweile taiwanesische BL Serien Gefühlvolle Szenen, sowie intime Szenen haben (nicht auf das sexuelle bezogen).

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Un bel bl con trama semplice ma molto carina.

Personaggi con modi di comportarsi diversi,praticamente cresciuti insieme ora da adulti si rendono conto che c'è di più del amicizia e quando si rendono conto le cose si complicano. Due avvocati bravi nel loro lavoro ma quando si tratta di relazioni le cose sono un po' diverse.La chimica tra gli due protagonisti e fantastica, anche i loro baci sono piuttosto bollenti.
C'è un'altra coppia dove i personaggi sono davvero gli opposti ma alla fine scatta comunque l'amore.
Nel complesso un bel drama piacevole e scorrevole.
Molto bello il episodio extra e davvero divertente la puntata dei dietro le quinte.

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Quintessential bromance to romance

A+

Like kiwi, bitter at first bite with a sweet aftertaste.

I want to give it the same critics as Be Loved in House: I Do, i.e., not a top tier drama but still a very much appreciated discovery. The difference is that the former is a slow burn romance whereas the latter is a bromance quickly turned into a strongly built long term romantic relationship. Once you acknowledge your deepest feelings for someone, it's almost impossible to go backwards as though these feelings could disappear as easily as they emerged.

Give in and let it in!

Another aspect I felt was even stronger in this one is that the actors seem even more comfortable with each other, to the point where people have even questioned the actors' relationship. HEAR ME OUT! Nobody has the right to judge what's beside the work. Stay in your place and let people live.

This drama is all in all a strong recommendation.

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