By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Eight out of ten times, the phrase ‘quick review’ on our website means whatever it is that we are reviewing… is probably skip-worthy. And so is the case for the 2022 Taiwanese romantic mini-series ‘Plus & Minus’, which may have a good-looking lead couple, but a non-existent story and an absolutely unnecessary second lead pair.
Cheng Zi Zhou (Max Lin) and Shi Cheng Hao (Fu Li Gong) are childhood best-friends, who work together at the same law firm and even live together. They are evidently in love with each other, but hide their feelings, until they cannot anymore. Surprise, surprise. These two have to be the world’s worst divorce lawyers, because they seem to know very little about how relationships work. The way the script makes them pretend to be platonic friends is far too childish for protagonists who are well into their late twenties.
You cannot really fault the actors for this insipid series, because both Max Lin and Fu Li Gong do complete justice to their half-hashed roles and do look like two people struggling with their emotions. So, yes, there is plenty of sexual tension between the two, their chemistry is great, and a better story-line would’ve made ‘Plus & Minus’ a lot more watchable. And then there’s the random secondary couple, the pretty looking bartender Kato Yuki (Zhen Qi Lei) and Jian Ying Ze (Matt Lee) who runs a laundry service right below the bar where Yuki works. Not only do Zhen Qi Lei and Matt Lee look completely odd as a couple, their acting skills are quite questionable too.
Twelve episodes long, it was hard to keep my interest up after the first few, but I did watch it till the end, by skipping a bunch of scenes. If you’ve run out of gay romances to watch, you could just fast-forward the parts with the other couple and save some time. On the bright side, the series has a feel-good happy ending, with some watch-worthy romantic scenes.
It’s a 5/10 from me.
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