Rose and Gun

Choppy Editing, Multitude of Inaccuracies, Too Much Propaganda (Even During the Leads Wedding)!

I first added this to my watchlist when it was first announced, 4 or 5 some odd years ago. I had seen both leads in at that point one drama each (PA for him & CQL for her); since then I've seen him in one other (Parallel World) and her in a few others. While he is good as both the protagonist and antagonist roles, it's better if she stuck to the former. While I don't know the SML or most of the support, I have seen SFL in one drama as an antagonist and I've seen the TML in several dramas where he was just very good. Everyone else is come and go. Unfortunately, though this drama had potential, I'm sure it fell prey to choppy editing, multitude of inaccuracies, and too much propaganda even during the leads wedding in the very last episode.

Pros: Favorite characters were ML, SML, CY, little head navy guy, third couple, all parents; thankfully no toxicity; Brigadier and his family. I would have to say that the pros of this drama, other than the music and the overall obvious camaraderie of the soldiers and friendships. It also had a lot of people that were funny like the parents of FL and in small moments, you had a lot of little learning curves and teachable moments for everyone combined. I like the fact that they had these clubs in groups and what not for soldiers families and wives clubs and I'm guessing also husband's clubs if they so chose to join because that was real. I do appreciate the fact that they did show sad moments like toward the end, when two of their trusted captains had to either discharge completely or get reassigned to another unit due to pretty bad injuries. Those were honest. I personally like all the gadgetry like helicopters and ships and drills and all that other stuff. The villains a.k.a. big bad dad and his son and the international guy William or whatever were OK but I really wouldn't call them anything to cry home about in the villain category. However, the majority fell into the cons.

Cons: The first thing I noticed that was completely off kilter, was the choppy editing and the scenes just didn't flow naturally be it the drill, soldier scenes or the civilian scenes. They jumped from one to another without giving the viewer time to adjust. The other thing would be that a lot of the times you could blatantly tell that they were using either news footage or documentary footage from other locations other than what was being actually filmed, also, a lot was edited out and not shown in the actual series that was shown in trailers like the leads going to Disney World or spending time together or vacations together or even that supposedly the SFL became pregnant again. They never showed any time jumps until the very last episode where we found out that the entire show basically took place within a little over two years.

The thing that I complained about the most had to be the complete and utter lack of research be it when it came to things like miscarriages (somehow SFL, who actually had the miscarriage got over it in 10 days or less both emotionally and in every other sense of the word while the SML was the one who looked like he was going to pass out and felt guilty about it. Now everyone grieves differently, but this was just completely off kilter and the fact that absolutely no one except the ML asked him how he was doing just felt wrong because in real life that's not how it works either) to my absolute worst annoyance being their scuba drills. It was like production never researched a single thing about what it meant to be a master diver or in this case since these guys were special ops and they made rookie mistake after rookie mistake or things that were literally impossible if you take into account the laws of physics underwater that just had someone like me who's a certified scuba diver cringing. Now I'm not in the military, but anyone who is a dive master or anyone who's even further advanced in scuba than I am would be cringing at this let alone anybody in special ops or who are military divers regardless of country. Some of the tests that they conducted where scuba was involved were downright illegal internationally. For people who have never gone scuba diving, if you choose to try that, my biggest piece of advice is to go with a dive master and not alone or because of what you saw on TV.

The other thing that was they brought in a 3rd wheel to be kind of a in between of the villains I mentioned up top. His whole worst thing was that he could not take no for an answer from the FL, who herself had a lot of serious lack of judgment calls, but this dude was just ridiculous & on top of that he got physical with her toward the end and that was a big no. Then he felt like he had the need to call out the ML not once but twice, even though the ML and his team saved his life like it was any of his business. 3rd wheels like that I think are completely unnecessary and just make things worse for the storyline. On top of that they never closed him out so we don't know what happened to him. They made the SFL a princess or lazy goat as the FL called her for the majority of it until the miscarriage somehow matured her, but you still didn't quite say anything. Plus, you didn't really feel the chemistry of the second leads at all. As for the chemistry of the main leads, it was kind of felt, but not really until the end either. Meanwhile, the FL sort of lost her EQ a few times and blamed him for basically telling her what she did was wrong in that hostage negotiation and her playing prima donna which just kind of made me feel all iffy about her character until she understood things a little better. It seemed to me that only ML and SML, the third couple notwithstanding and CY were the only mature dudes and when it came to being in a relationship people out of the entire situation. I called ML a lump of clay when it came to romance, but even though he himself admitted that he wasn't great at it he was certainly honest about it.

Lastly, the propaganda factor was way too much. Yes I understand this had to be with soldiers and this also had the romance thing but you do not preach Motherland, flag, military, and all that other junk when your daughter just had a miscarriage. You do not preach that junk at a wedding when it's supposed to be emotional and a romance. It got so out of hand that even the SFL's mother would talk about it in the weirdest of times. I get it when it comes to certain situations and I understood that this was part of the series, but there were many situations when it was completely unnecessary and just reduced a more powerful scene to not so much.

Would I recommend it? Honestly, this is one of those dramas where if you turn your brain off and just watch while you're waiting for something sure. And if you could get past all of the inconsistencies and everything else mentioned in the cons, you'll be just fine. I do hope to see the ML in more series in the future because I think he plays protagonist roles pretty well and we've already seen him and antagonist ones.

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Yup.. Just Another Propaganda Drama..

Well I have no idea why I watched this now.. I have plenty of other dramas on my list that I am dying to get to.. But somehow I ended up checking my watchlist, saw this title and decided to watch it.. Maybe I just wanted something different or maybe I wasn’t in the mood for anything too intense.. I went in without any expectations.. Because well it’s Jin Han as the ML for starters and the teaser already screamed low budget production..

Everything in this drama looks and feels so amateurish.. No joke, every five minutes there was propaganda being pushed.. This was an outright propaganda drama.. No doubt about it..

I spent most of the drama bored but not hating it.. I liked the main leads and their relationship.. It was nice to see a couple that’s actually mature.. They had their flaws but I wasn’t disappointed.. I just wish they had skipped the whole “we have to break up because my job is dangerous and I might die” thing.. Like what were you doing before getting into the relationship and making the girl fall for you?? Anyway, it gets solved soon.. So thats that..

The other parts in the drama.. Be it military drills, underwater activities or similar stuff were just so poorly poorly executed.. It’s obvious they didn’t hire a proper consultant.. Everything felt completely out of touch with reality.. Forget about the sloppy gunfights, have they even heard of suppressors?? It felt like they were either allergic to them or had no idea they existed.. How do you go on a stealth mission and not use suppressed weapons?? it feels like they didnt even hire a Military advisor..

I don’t want to be too hard on the actors.. They worked with what they had and most of them did a decent job.. The real problem was that the drama lacked a strong antagonist.. They were so weak, you could almost say there wasn’t one at all.. And the SML.. I really can’t stand characters like that.. The ones who act all righteous and saint like but can’t handle rejection.. Like how do you ask a girl who is already in a relationship to be with you and then ask her not to reject your proposal?? The guy didn’t even back off after she told him she’s engaged.. Seriously??

Overall, this feels more like a propaganda drama made to appease a certain section of people, you know, if you know.. It’s a shame, because there is some substance here.. If only they had used it properly.. My suggestion?? Watch it only if you have a lot of time to kill or if you are into this kind of drama..

P.S. Jin Han really needs a better agency.. Someone who actually understands his strengths and picks roles that suit him.. Because honestly I don’t think even Jin Han is the best at choosing for himself.. I have seen actors far worse than him get lead roles in dramas with good scripts..

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Nice and Simple

I had been looking for Xuan Lu's work for a while because I thought she was great in The Prisoner of Beauty and other past dramas as a supporting actress. She is beautiful in the cute girlfriend kind of way, and she is terrific in Historical dramas. She has the face and looks for the outfits from the past.

Rose and Gun: It starts like a ROMANCE with sarcasm and the FL's disdain for soldiers, at least when it comes to dating and marriage. In a nutshell, if you enjoy the items listed below, you will likely appreciate this drama. As we go along the real stars of the drama is the parents of the FL, especially the father. This was probably the best parent/child dynamic in most of the dramas i saw to-date. The father and daughter dynamic almost felt like they were real parents of the FL and kept the fun in the drama going. The ML was flat in many areas, especially the romance part. He had done romance before but this seemed flat no matter how hard the FL tried.

Strong: Fate or Small incidents that eventually tell her that she is falling for this guy
Weak: Buildup of a strong connection for ML/FL; SML/SFL didn't need a buildup
Strong: Good, constructive parents who want the best for their kids, not the typical CDrama parents
Weak: little angst as far as Love Triangle; The two couples were the primary focus accept for her rich friend who thought she wanted money and power. Maybe this is an Asian thing but she could have shut him down early in the drama but the dude didn’t understand that she had no attraction towards him.
Medium: Military rescue-type action and Action In/Out; Investigations with Danger

Overall - C+ but closer to a B.

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Grace in Duty, Gap in Thrill, Beauty in Emotion

🎬✨ 𝓜𝔂 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓸𝓷 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓗𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 ‘𝓟𝓵𝓪𝔂’ 𝓸𝓷 𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓞𝓷𝓮✨🎬

I like military-themed dramas especially when they involve love stories centered around military personnel. That alone was a simple yet strong enough reason for me to give this one a try.

💚💂‍♂️ 𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓭 𝓐𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓓𝓻𝓪𝓶𝓪💂‍♂️💚

I absolutely love military dramas, and this one included several of my favorite elements:

⟡🪖 Military life and training
⟡🏅 Military competitions
⟡🤝 Bonds of friendship among soldiers
⟡😄 Light-hearted teasing and camaraderie
⟡💘 Romantic relationships involving military personnel
⟡ 🧑‍✈️ Senior-junior dynamics
⟡📏 Military discipline, hierarchy, and lifestyle
⟡👬 Not only are military personnel and their teams like a family, but their actual families also share the same deep bond. Just as soldiers support one another, their families, too, stand by and support each other like one united family.
𓂃 I appreciate when a profession is portrayed with realism and dignity not only the professional aspects, but their emotional and personal lives too.
𓂃 𝑨 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔.
𓂃 The story was engaging at the beginning the characters were well-woven, and their arcs thoughtfully developed.

🚫🧐 𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓓𝓲𝓭𝓷’𝓽 𝓦𝓸𝓻𝓴 𝓕𝓸𝓻 𝓜𝓮🧐🚫

While the drama began with promise, there were several things that disappointed me:

📉 After the pirates hostage situation:

🕳️The story began to lose momentum.
🕳️ The pacing and direction shifted, weakening the original intensity.

❌ The character "Han Yu Hang" :

⨯ Felt completely unnecessary and overly frustrating.
⨯ 🚫 FL (Female Lead) had already made it clear that she wasn’t interested, yet he kept following her and interfering in her life.
⨯He’s not her brother, cousin, ex, friend, family, or enemy. In short, he has no role in her life or in the main story.
⨯His screen time felt like a total waste. I honestly wondered, what was the writer even thinking?
⨯ His presence doesn't even qualify as that of a typical "extra" he was just there, adding nothing.

⨯And what’s wrong with Han Yu Hang? Has he completely lost his sense of reality? He’s asking FL, “You know I’ve been pursuing you, right? You only come to me when you need something. What do I even mean to you?”

⨯Seriously? She has clearly told you there's nothing possible between you two. You're the one forcing yourself into her life, offering help she never asked for. You're the one pushing this so-called friendship or "convenient relationship" not her.

⨯She never initiated it, so what right or logic do you have to ask her such questions now?

⨯🤡✍️Bravo, writer. What a bafflingly tone-deaf character you’ve written.

💦 The "FL jumps into the water" scene:

🧻💧 Practically and logically, it made no sense.
🧻💧Women are generally not as physically strong , here to compare to trained male soldiers that even more impossible . If you put a weak link between two strong ones in a chain, the chain will still break.
🧻💧Soldiers were forming a human chain to stop the water. There was no need for FL to jump in the middle.
🧻💧Was she trying to prove she was stronger than the soldiers?
🧻💧 It didn’t feel empowering it felt reckless.
👉 It looked like the writer just wanted to force importance on the FL through an illogical and unrealistic act.
👉 As a viewer, I already knew she was the main lead there was no need to add a foolish scene to emphasize it.
💭 Honestly, that scene just made both the FL and the writer look silly.

⚠️ Irresponsible Writing at Its Peak:

🩺⚠️2ML should not be allowed near 2FL until a doctor has given full clearance.

🩺⚠️If someone had told me there was even a possibility of HIV, I would have locked myself in a room for the safety of others. No matter how educated you are, whether you're a soldier or a doctor, you cannot prevent every accident.

🩺⚠️It doesn’t take much for HIV to spread even a small cut or exposure to blood can be enough. In daily life, people get cuts in the kitchen all the time. And no one is fully alert every second of the day.

🩺⚠️What was the writer even thinking while writing something so careless and foolish? 🤡✍️

🕵️‍♀️ Failed Thrilling Track:

The story started with a suspenseful tone a mysterious informer emailing a reporter, and the reporter beginning an investigation. That part felt exciting and promising.

But…

🔍😞The informer was kidnapped too easily.
🔍😞Suddenly he wanted to cooperate with the police then why involve the reporter in the first place?
🔍😞 That whole storyline was dismissed with a simple, lazy excuse:
“Reporter FL should stay away; it’s dangerous.”
🔍😞⚠️ All the thrill, danger, and suspense just… vanished.

🧍‍♂️ Underwhelming Villain:

💣👎The so-called “villain” a businessman and his team didn’t seem like villains at all.
💣👎They lacked presence, threat, or impact.
💣👎They felt more like extras with random dialogue than actual antagonists.
💣👎Poorly written and ineffective in adding any thrill or tension.

📝 𝓞𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓘𝓶𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷

Despite its flaws, I still consider this a good drama. Maybe it's because I’m a little biased toward this theme but I genuinely enjoyed the military setting and emotional undertones.

Yes, it lost its direction midway, but the early episodes, the characters, and the military lifestyle won me over.

💭 If you enjoy military romance and don’t mind a few bumps along the way, this drama is still worth watching.

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A TV show to recruit future soldiers. :( :(

PLOT: A relationship and then romance between a female journalist (also a Navy officer's daughter, who promised never to date a soldier) and a Navy unit leader.

+++ with Jin Han & Xuan Lu as CL, with great chemistry.
+++ Many excellent actors, handsome and talented, who bring to life very endearing characters.
+++ Cute and well-developed secondary romances.
+++ Coherent story, which gives voice to the soldiers' families in an intelligent and humane way.

### Slow narration, with many (too many) training scenes, exercises scenes, and a lot (too much) military speech/propaganda. It looks like a TV show to recruit future soldiers. :( :(
### All to the glory of the dedicated soldiers and the Chinese Navy :) :)

=> Watched on Speed X 1.5 (and in dotted lines) just because I like the actors, but I won't watch this drama again (too patriotic and nationalistic for me).
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PLOT: Relation puis romance entre la FL (journaliste, fille d'officier, a promis de ne jamais fréquenter 1 soldat) et un chef d'unité de la Marine.

+++ avec Jin Han & Xuan Lu en CL avec une belle alchimie.
+++ Bcp d'excellents acteurs, beaux, talentueux, qui donnent vie à des personnages très attachants.
+++ Romances 2aires cute et bien dvlpéees.
+++ Story cohérente, qui donne la parole aux familles des soldats de manière intelligente et humaine.

### Narration lente, avec bcp (trop) de scènes de training, d'exercices, ... On dirait une vidéo pour promouvoir le recrutement de futurs soldats :(
### Tout à la gloire des soldats dévoués et de la Marine Chinoise :) :)

=> Regardé en Speed X 1.5 (et en pointillés) juste parce que j'aime les acteurs, mais je ne regarderai pas à nouveau ce drama (trop patriotique et nationaliste).

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Some good moments but might test one’s patience!

Love and Gun was made in 2019 and only aired in 2025. There are a number of reasons for this, which can be found on line. I liked the leads. Generally, I will try any show that they are in.

This drama is interesting in that, despite some of the propaganda elements, it dealt with two key topics: investigative journalism and stolen marine artefacts and the personal issues faced by special forces operatives.

The best friends, as the second couple were fine. The wider male special forces members were the usual CDrama cheesiness and annoying at times. The female military members punched above their weight. The parents played by senior actors were very good.

The third, established married couple, with an interfering mother in law, were interesting. From their professional challenges through to dealing with life’s tough moments.

There was a fourth couple and at times, struggled for relevance. I found them frustrating.

This drama is interesting in that, despite some of the propaganda elements, it dealt with two key topics: investigative journalism and stolen marine artefacts and the personal issues faced by special forces operatives.

Overall, we get a good snapshot of China’s military preparedness, which was an interesting element for a show to throw in. The military exercises and operations were full on and worth a watch - although authenticity might or might not, be an issue.

The portrayal of military wives/husbands and how they cope with loneliness when their other half is away was quite good. Even though the lead couple faced many challenges, they were a delight, even if the ML was a dufus.

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Lacks depth, but worth the watch.

I have always been a fan of dramas that have these soft and gentle male leads so this was definitely worth the watch. Would I come back again? A bit doubtful, because I still have to rewatch some of the other dramas that I thought were wonderful. This one just didn't make the mark.

Why? A lot of reasons:
> First, the story was too focused on patriotism and not on the people. They needed to balance it out.
> Romance between the main leads: Started out good and watching the two interact was nice. But that's all it was nice. Even with the underlying issue, it felt as if there were no stakes in the main leads romance. It just did not feel as if it was deep enough.
> The secondary couple were a bit too hasty for my taste but I liked them well enough. The one thing that did bother me was how he screamed at her, I mean sure she does seem a bit immature, but was that really necessary? It became funny when in upcoming scene he called out Wu Si (ML) for shouting at him. That was a comedic scene but the former wasn't but these two scenes stood out to me the most.
> As much as I like Jin Han as a actor, in this drama, his face often had this expression as if he was about to cry.
> The plot was meh. Yeah, that's how i felt watching thing unfold. Even when the FL went on her investigative mission they felt like calm waters to me.

I went in this drama thinking it was going to be action-packed with deep romance theme, but it wasn't. I understand why the ratings are low now.

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Has potential but fell apart halfway through. Chemistry went from promising to lukewarm.

Review based on the first 24 episodes:

I have to be honest about how I feel about this drama now. This drama is not a good drama. It has potential initially but now it's a disappointment halfway through or specifically up to episode 24.

Initially, the main couple has good chemistry and I'm counting on that to get me through this drama. But as soon as they kissed, all the magic is gone. At that time, I already felt the chemistry was falling apart but I pushed that thought away and still thought those episodes were the best so far. But the more I watched, the more boring the relationship got. By now, it's so lukewarm that I'm having a hard time believing.

In addition to this, they made 2FL's role ridiculous and unlikable. She's very pretty and I like the relationship she had with her husband but they made her character so unbelievable and unlikable that my mood is always down after watching.

I'm sad to say that if I stop watching now I won't miss it much. I'm only here to keep everyone company but I'm totally losing interest.

They'll be releasing the rest of the drama soon so I might tough it out and finish it but I was so close to dropping it.

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Update after episode 31:

It's so hard to regain interest after almost dropping it after episode 24 but I tried to continue since I'm closer to the end. The relationship of the main couple no longer have the same draw for me. This is most detrimental aspect in the overall enjoyment of the drama. I think everything else is still pretty much the same up until now. I'm still watching but lacked the feeling of excitement like I did at the beginning.

I regained some interest after episode 31 but felt sad about everything leading up to it. I know this drama will end nicely in the next 3 episodes. I just wish they did this sooner.
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Update after episode 34:

Towards the end, nothing much happened. Everything is as expected. I gave it a 7 rating because it's just an alright drama. It could have been much better.

The chemistry of the main couple didn't live up to my expectation. Their behind the scene pictures at Disneyland had better chemistry than in the drama. I don't care much for the military stuff so without the chemistry, there's nothing to look forward to.

I just finished the drama but I'm sure I'll forget about soon. The best thing about this drama is its soundtrack.

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Recomendable

Si te gustan los dramas militares te recomiendo que le des una oportunidad!

No tiene nada de extraordinario, no es una historia diferente al resto de historias militares que ya nos han presentado antes, sin embargo trata un tema que no antes nos habían presentado con realismo, las familias militares.

Me gustó que nos presentan lo diferente que pueden ser las familias militares, cada una tiene sus altos y bajos, nos muestran todo lo que tienen que sacrificar los militares (es este caso los marines) para poder servir a su país. Podemos ver qué aunque amen a su familia su prioridad número 1 siempre va a ser defender a su pratia, cada familia tiene una historia diferente y llevada a un punto realista.

Tiene un buen desarrollo, con alegrías, momentos triste, buenas y malas noticias. Podemos ver las típicas escenas en el campo de batalla y también nos presentan una historia sobre periodismo de investigación que empieza y culmina de una forma buena.

Tiene personajes buenos, la protagonista es independiente y con carácter! sabe lo que quiere y eso me gusta, mientras que el protagonista aunque duda un poco siempre termina protegiendo a la protagonista. Las parejas secundarias también me gustaron. Cada uno tiene sus propias batallas y pensamientos. Me alegra que les hayan podido dar un buen un buen final a la mayoría.

Me casaría con un militar? Después de ver esta serie lo pensaría 2 veces más antes de aceptar! jijiji Lo recomiendo? Sí! No es mejor drama militar peroooo te da una perspectiva diferente 🤓☝🏻

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