A Girl & Her Guard Dog episode 9 begins with a recap of the previous episode’s attack, and in case you need a trigger warning, this episode has some descriptions of sexual assault and violence. As he walked out of the school, Mikio pulled out a knife and held it tightly in front of Isaku. Keiya pulls out his gun but Mikio threatens them to get in the truck. They arrive at a warehouse; Keiya is handcuffed to a post while Mikio tries to attack Isaku. He revealed that he was tired of being watched and did this because he found playing with them fun. However, Isaku kicked him in the groin, causing him to roll around in pain. Keiya also escaped handcuffs and attacked the others with a piece of metal. Isaku runs up to Keiya, who pulls his gun on Mikio. However, Isaku stops him, explaining that they still need Mikio to play Romeo in their school festival play. In the end, they decided to let Mikio go.
Wait, so you’re telling me they let him go because of a school play? Are they okay? And Isaku… are you okay? If it were me, I would be traumatized for life. I also apologize to those who went through that situation in real life and I wish them the best. But oh, did they really let him go free just because of a play? That’s crazy.
Keiya then affirms that Isaku is his woman and he won’t let anyone hurt her. Keiya even called Mikio’s people, who were said to have been tracking them through Mikio’s phone and warned them to be vigilant or face the consequences. Afterwards, Isaku and Keiya discuss, with Isaku saying that she is not too scared because she believes that Keiya will protect her.
The festival begins and they are preparing for the play. It seems Mikio has been missing for a week since the incident. While deciding who would play Romeo in his absence, Keiya offered to do it, citing his familiarity with the character and the ease of finding a replacement for the initially low-key role. more conversation. They agree and as they prepare to continue, Mikio finally appears in the play. He explained that he was delayed because he was beaten by his grandfather and then took some time to recover. However, he then pulled Keiya aside to share something important.
When the performance begins, everyone realizes that Mikio and Keiya have switched roles, with Keiya becoming Romeo. Mikio discussed this as part of “Operation: Lovely-Dovey”, in an attempt to push them closer together as Isaku plays Juliet. During the kiss scene, Keiya stopped midway to avoid making her uncomfortable, but Isaku took the initiative to kiss him. After the play was successful, everyone celebrated and congratulated each other. Outside, Keiya and Isaku sit under a tree discussing the play and the kiss. Isaku insists it’s all just acting, but Keiya continues to play Romeo, kneeling down and kissing her hand while repeating a line from the play.
This program is great if you want to turn your brain off completely. Before watching this episode and writing this article, I watched a recent episode of Jujutsu Kaisen, in which I shed a few tears. However, after this anime episode, I feel somewhat better.
Overall, A Girl & Her Guard Dog episode 9 is a wild ride as Isaku is kidnapped and put in a threatening situation, only to continue the school play and then experience his first kiss with her first love. It’s a pretty wild scenario to imagine, but it’s also just a fun show. Isaku is making some progress in understanding her emotions, although she still brushes it off. Their relationship is slowly developing and their first kiss just happened. Although Isaku insisted it was just acting, it was clear she was happy to share that moment with Keiya, her first love.
I’ve always been concerned about the animation throughout the series, but for this episode, it was just fine. There are still instances where Keiya looks different in many scenes and there is a group photo where he doesn’t look very good. Regardless of these observations, as always, I hope the animation improves in the remaining episodes.
I give this episode of A Girl & Her Guard Dog episode 8 a 6.5/10. If you like this episode, please vote for it in the weekly polls.
Screenshot via Crunchyroll© Hatsuharu, Kodansha/A Girl & Her Guard Dog Production Committee