Plus & Minus (2022)

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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Seconda BL made in Taiwan che vedo, ma davvero lontana anni luce da Miracle/Kiseki. Attori entrambi davvero di bell'aspetto e di buone capacità recitative, a interpretare personaggi ben equilibrati, dove uno è più spigliato e deciso, mentre l'altro mostra buone capacità di combattimento, rompendo quindi gli schemi del classico e fastidioso duo con il lui forte/protettivo e l'altro lui in modalità debole/sensibile/da proteggere.
Premesse buone, dunque. Tuttavia la serie non riesce a decollare, complice una trama davvero un po' troppo povera e semplicistica (e io, che mi lamento sempre dell'esiguo numero di episodi e loro breve durata nelle BL, per una volta avrei davvero apprezzato se la serie fosse durata la metà del tempo). Dei due protagonisti, il più lineare è Fu Li Kung, che danni nasconde il vero sentimento al migliore amico. Nel caso dell'altro, invece, il cambiamento è stato un po' forzato. Un episodio prima era lì a fare il cascamorto con la ragazza incontrata al bar, l'episodio dopo - solo perchè il suo migliore amico ci ha quasi rimesso un braccio per difendere lui - realizza tutto a un tratto il coinvolgimento amoroso verso lo stesso. Davvero poco credibile come evoluzione. Certo è il personaggio più difficile da contestualizzare, proprio perchè dall'inizio alla fine della serie deve mostrare un'importante evoluzione emotiva e sentimentale, ma diciamo che il tentativo ha fatto un po' un buco nell'acqua, in questo caso. La serie, come dicevo, dura anche fin troppo: il ritmo è lento, grossi ostacoli da superare non ce ne sono (tralascio la momentanea disapprovazione del padre di Zheng), così come ho trovato assurdo che Li Kung, dopo averlo aspettato tutta la vita, fa di punto in bianco un passo indietro senza dare troppe spiegazioni (pur con tutte le sue motivazioni, è un atteggiamento che non regge). Un drama con dei buoni attori, dei buoni elementi e spunti, ma che si limita a giochicchiare con essi in stile passatempo, invece di osare a qualcosa di un po' più di spessore. Resta una serie che si può anche vedere...ma il coinvolgimento è tutt'altra cosa.

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lo consiglio

Questa è la prima volta che guardo un bl taiwanese quindi non sapevo che aspettarmi di preciso ma devo dire che non mi ha proprio deluso.
è carino ma allo stesso tempo in molte parti lento, mi è piaciuto vedere la loro storia che sembra semplice ma non lo è. Purtroppo quando c’è amore fra due persone che si conoscono da una vita, c’è tanta paura di rovinare il bel rapporto che si ha quindi invece di dichiararsi si preferisce lasciare le cose come stanno eppure aiuto sto fattore c’era ma allo stesso momento hanno fatto sembrare molto veloce e facile da parte di “minus” (scritto così solo per intenderci dato che non ricordo il nome) dichiararsi, ceh bho appena vista quella scena mi son detta “tutto qui?” “sembra che non abbia problemi a dirlo (cosa buona ma comunque intendo che data la loro amicizia è più difficile dichiararsi a cuore aperto)”.
Vabbè in generale mi sono piaciuti moltissimo, sono veramente carini, poi quando si sono lasciati ci sono rimasta di merda, non capivo come fosse possibile ma purtroppo è anche vero che vedendo la reazione del padre di plus, minus si sia chiesto se la loro relazione li avrebbe messi solo in difficoltà e dato che vuole solo la felicità per plus, ha deciso di lasciarlo. Alla fine mi è piaciuto come stesso i padri abbiano fatto sì che loro due si rimettessero insieme e poi bho ho visto quella proposta di matrimonio come troppo veloce, veramente troppo presto perciò era uguale anche se non la mettevano.

Riguardo la coppia secondaria, mi è piaciuta anch'essa molto, è un tipo di coppia che non si fa molto vedere, penso sia stata molto azzeccata, mi è particolarmente piaciuto come la bambina abbia accettato il tutto con una facilità incredibile ed è per questo che si deve far vedere che non è sbagliato per due persone omosessuali avere figli, perchè loro non apprenderanno nulla di sbagliato, ciò che apprendono di sbagliato deriva dall'educazione impartita dai genitori e i genitori in primis dovrebbero insegnare ai bambini il rispetto e l’educazione per tutti, senza nessun tipo di distinzione.

In generale come ho già detto è molto carino, l’ho trovato lento da guardare ma allo stesso tempo non stanca.

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Podia ser melhor

Friends to love sempre é um plot que me pega principalmente pq acho um grande desafio essa virada de amigo para amante., principalmente quando não é algo que rolou igualmente pelos dois, houve uma confissão. Então entendo o sentimento Li Gong em duvidar de qual eram os verdadeiros sentimentos do Zeshou " será que ele está comigo pq me ama da msm forma que eu amo ele? será que ele consegue dividir o que é amor de amigo e de namorado? ". Eu entendo esses questionamentos, o que não entendo é vc usar a separação no intuito de ajudar o outro, sendo que só traz mais sofrimento e dor. Sendo que o que eles mais falavam um para o outro era que eles ficaram juntos sempre, que resolveriam tudo juntos... esse plot me deu preguiça e raiva, não precisava. Eles podiam enfrentar esse desafio juntos.
Tirando isso é um casal com muita química e extremamente fofos.
O casal secundário eu gostei, mas não me apeguei. Não senti mto o desenvolvimento dos sentimentos deles no início, mas gostei como a relação foi sendo construída.

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Enjoyable, but a bit too much side plot that takes away from the stars.

Plus and Minus is interesting as the two main leads have been high school friends. They now live and work together. Usually in BLs, either they love in high school, or they meet later in life. This makes the story pretty interesting from the start. Most of the characters are enjoyable, and the main couple is extremely attractive. You can tell they care about each other.

Overall, the drama is fine, but spends too much time on the character's jobs instead of the relationships. This does make the story more realistic but less interesting. Maybe I am more excited for the love aspect rather than the divorce lawyer job aspect but I wish this was less detailed so their love could shine more. I ended up fast-forwarding a good part of the series.

When they do have couple moments its all really good. The kisses are very passionate and they look amazing. The ending was a little annoying but it was resolved so its good.

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Eu gostei da história dos dois casais. Um BL simples, mas com momentos de intriga, ação, tristeza...enfim, muitas emoções diferentes num mesmo plot. Achei bastante interessante as participações especiais de casais de BLs anteriores ("Seja amado em casa" de 2021 e "HIstory 3: faça nossos dias contarem" de 2019). Sem grandes pretensões, é uma produção simples, mas com dinâmica bem ativa, o que não te deixa cansar da história, e, por ser chinês, eu diria até um pouco surpreendente. Os episódios são curtos (entre 25 e 30 minutos), consegui maratonar em um dia só.

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Nice but average BL but still I enjoyed.

I think this series is not really keeping up with top-tier Taiwanese BLS out there. I feel like it has its own thing. The two main leads portraying as Zhe Zheshou and Fu Li Gong made me enjoy the series, them alone. I think I have issues with the flashbacks. I thought it would have been good if it's mix well within the first ep. I thought that without those two handsome male leads the scene felt dry and not that exciting. The second couple, uhmmm, nah not a fan of it. They're just unnecessary and lacking. They're my least likable second BL couple ever. Okay moving on. I found it dissatisfied to see Boris Wang rarely like bitch come on he's so eye-catching to look at. I don't care if he's just a supporting character but I would rather have him partnered with other actor and replace the second couple.
The surprising cameos were nice. Not really expecting anything but I'm glad they're there. I'm conflicted with the feelings of both Zheshou and Li Gong. I thought it took years just for them to date each other. It's weird that Zeshou acted surprised when he saw the keychain in the little box hid by Li Gong. I don't think it doesn't make any sense knowing in EP 12.5 they both have it already. The blind dates are ridiculous, I don't even know why the hell they advised each other to plan double blind dates each other.
I'm okay with Nikita being like a love guru to the two main couples but when she dated Li Gong I was turned off and taken aback. It's just so downright weird . I thought that is best left as a concept rather than execution. I hate how sometimes Li Gong just broke up with Zeshou. It's so unfair for Zeshou knowing his mother just passed away and his father being indifferent about their same-sex relationship. I thought that just made it hard for me to sit through. Eversince that thing dropped one by one, I just can't help but have pity towards Zeshou. Besides the negative sides of this series I enjoy it.
I never expect anything I'm just enjoying the screen time of the two male leads. Overall this was a nearly decent but still mediocre series

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Not terrible...

but not great either.

Gong was such a monotone character. No matter what was happening, happy or sad, he acted the exact same throughout the show. We were supposed believe he'd been in love with his best friend forever basically, but it just never came across to me that he had this intense love or passion. The only time I believed anything he was conveying was the love scene in the very last episode. The music ruined most scenes as well.

The side couple had more chemistry and better acting, but unfortunately their story was just as boring as the rest of the show.

I feel if this was actually shortened by half it would be an enjoyable bite-sized BL, but 12 episodes where almost nothing happens? I don't see myself coming back. I really wanted to love this!

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A Fiery BL Romance between Lawyers

Overall, I thought this show was quite creative and I quite enjoyed it (in spite of the crappy writing near the end of the show starting from episode 8).

Positives
- The co-stars did a great job conveying the feelings of their characters.
- The first and second episodes were hilarious. I enjoyed Zheng's plan for rejecting blind dates.
- Episode 12 was well-written from the dialogue to the story to the setting, etc. It was likely the series' best episode by far (aside from Episode 13 (the special/extra)).
- Episode 13 was very enjoyable. I especially appreciated Zheng's character growth in the episode. It was funny and added a comical aspect to the show that bumped my rating from 7.0 to 7.5.
- Lots of skinship/kissing/contact. You see this a lot in Taiwanese BL but it is always more enjoyable compared to JBLs and KBLs as they tend to do away with much of the skinship.
- Great acting from the fathers of the co-stars. Especially appreciated the supportive nature of Fu's Dad.
- The story was good, made sense and was decently enjoyable.
- The music was catchy and well-suited to many scenes in the series. Opening theme was quite good too.

Areas for Improvement
- Chemistry was weak for the side couple (Kato Yuki and Jian Yingze). Did not enjoy their relationship as much as the main co-stars. Did not like that it felt like Yuki forced Jian into a relationship either; seemed forced and was too fast. Yuki was far too aggressive. This was unrealistic writing.
- As others have pointed out, the lighting in the camping episode was very off. It made it hard to watch.
- The owner of the bar was a bad character cliche. Did not enjoy her character though I thought she did a good job partly getting Zheng and Fu to realise they ought to be together.
- The sister did not have much of a role to play in anything besides the first few episodes. She deserved more as a female character in the show.
- I think the flashbacks were good for adding context to the show especially when it comes to how Fu's love for Zheng started but I think it lacked a lot of development. It was not developed well enough for us to see how Fu actually came to love him.

Suggestions?
- The side couple was unnecessary. It felt like they did it to only increase the show's screen time (same goes for the break-up).
- The break-up felt unnecessary because it was based off of a cliche and did nothing to make the show more enjoyable; another fight/argument between the two would've been better if they were looking to implement conflict.
- The support characters could've played more important roles in the story, they were largely quite 2-dimensional.
- Could have added more flashbacks that focused on Fu's growing love for Zheng; perhaps the 18th birthday was the largest contributor but it was not good enough for me.

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Where’s the Sizzle?

Just my opinion, there’s no chemistry unlike Beloved in House I Do.. They tried to correct the formula with the main pair falling in love early on. But the problem is the main pair’s chemistry is just not there….
The most interesting among the main actors for me is Yuki. With his long luxurious locks and sweet smile, He has this quiet lovable charm like that of Shi Lei. But where is his Yu Zhen? Or the confident mature shop owner, Yan Zhao? I’m sad to say that his Jian Ying Ze has little redeeming value except for his daughter. I wanted to ship Yuki to Fuli Gong.

With the soundtrack similar to Beloved, I kept missing Shi Lei and Yu Zhen. And this is not good for a series if I am thinking of another one

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