When I started this drama it was said to have 20 episodes, very much Taiwanese drama standard. Come to find out it has 40!
If I didn't know it was pre-produced, then I would be convinced the producers of this drama also only found out this crucial piece of information, when it already started airing because it has sooo much filler and is stretched out to the max.
To the point where I wouldn't even call it "filler" anymore but rather from episode 20-39 is just watered down blah-blah.

(PRODUCTION)
Instead of making it twice as long as other tw-dramas and have it be regular length, they could have had a higher budget because that is one of the biggest issues this drama has. With stars like Marcus Chang and Eugenie Liu on board I thought this surely must at least look good... oh well I thought wrong. Or maybe they spent all their budget on casting ? Who knows.
Whatever it was - someone needs to teach this production crew how to properly(!) use a muffler or deadcat. The background noise of outside scenes was coming and going as if they had used the "remove background noise" button on a cheap video editing software like Filmora or ShotCut.
Another big issue with sound was that the mics were not configured correctly for scenes when someone is screaming or crying. My poor ears. If you watched early 2000s k-dramas, you know what I mean.

(DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER)
But let's continue. Eric Hao, the director of the beloved classic "Lost Romance" collaborated with the scriptwriter of "Bromance" Shao Hui Ting, on paper this combination should evoke anticipation in you. Especially because the synopsis of "Trick or Love" is throwing things like "gender bender" and "pretend to be gay" in our direction... but once again the devil is in the details.
Eric Hao is also behind 2018's "Between" aka Sandwich Girl, an absolute catastrophe of a drama, so maybe his credentials are up for debate? Marcus Chang was leading that drama, so even the ever dashing never-aging beaut had his fair share of hit-or-misses.
(ACTING)
I'm aware that this is his official leading man comeback after his pretty serious health scare a few years back but for some reason he seems a bit rusty. One moment I'm totally falling for his flirty scheming, the next his facial expressions are so obviously acted / dramatized that I cannot help but laugh. I really am a big fan of his acting but more often than not he very clearly over acted in this drama.
This was also his second time leading a romance drama with Eugenie Liu and it's true, they do seem very comfortable with each other. Especially in the first part of the drama with the whole gender-bender. However romantic chemistry was not to be found. (We did get that from the second leads tho) Charming as Marcus is, I kept asking myself why Heng Wei would fall in love with Jing Tsen, other than following the script. Yeah she was nice-ish to him, but is that really enough to deeply fall in love with someone?
Eugenie Liu completely tanked for me, the acting was just very stiff and put on, maybe that's also why I couldn't feel any chemistry. I liked her a lot in "Triad Princess" tho. Probably have to give props to the costume department as she really did look very boyish / androgynous even when she was no longer pretending to be a guy.
Overall in the acting department both leads were a let down for me, especially because they did better in "Behind Your Smile" and their other respective work.
The supporting roles were all okay, some better, some more obviously acted but nothing horrible worth mentioning.

(STORY)
The first twenty episodes are pretty much as the synopsis says. I liked that, unlike in other cross dressing dramas, the FL was not too shy in front of the ML and was pretty neutral towards him and his flirts. Over the course of the entire drama we have some typical soap opera / melodrama moments, but all of them are pretty tame and easily forgotten. Things that seem important at first, got watered down as the story goes and by the end it's no longer that important. Characters that seem annoying or evil at first, change into nice ones by the end. As I said above the second part of this drama is not like the first half.
It's mainly about the second lead couple, that is actually more interesting and has better chemistry, but is also very cliche.

Funny enough, in the last 15 episodes the two leads slip into supporting roles, not that I mind, but they take up maybe 20 minutes of the 45 per episode. Another random thing I noticed is how much they infantilize his brother Heng Da. I was kinda shocked when I found out he is supposed be 23. Yeah you're still young at that age but they treat him like a minor and he also acts more like a child (notice: not childish but child-like). Dunno what that was about.
It's not a horrible drama nor do I hate it, it's just very, very watered down and most of the interesting stuff happens early on and then you have to hang on for another 20 episodes.

Last but not least: The OST is very good, probably the best thing to come out from this drama. Plus it made me discover Howard Lee, now a regular in my spotify playlist.

Okay, so why did I rate it a 6 if it's so boring and the acting is not very good either? I am biased. Firstly I added this drama page, updated it and I am a fan of Marcus. I also did some light translation work. So in some way this feels 10% like my baby and also the reason why I even finished watching it because... well... I would have dropped it at episode 1 otherwise.

My final conclusion: unless you really love soap operas with not much plot and love the leading actors, to the point where you don't mind anything else - skip this drama. 40 episodes is just way too long to waste your time.