REVIEW: ‘A Girl And Her Guard Dog’ Episode 2 — “Maidenly Feelings And Parental Feelings”

A Girl And Her Guard Dog continues this week with Episode 2, and for the most part, it starts off normal. In the last episode, the series’ gimmick was set up, a Yakuza Princess heads to her first year of high school, determined to make new friends, have her first boyfriend, and get rid of her one-sided crush on her guardian, Keiya, who is ten years older. But Keiya bribes the principal and winds up being a 26-year-old in a school uniform.

Based on the manga originally created by Hatsuharu, A Girl and Her Guard Dog Episode 2 goes to great lengths for Isaku to be independent. She starts opening up and making new friends. Excited to hang out with them and build something different, she started to get close to Tamaru, a guy in her class who immediately asked if she had a boyfriend. When the two start texting and going out with each other, it looks like Isaku is managing to have the friendships she talked about in Episode 1 and divesting her social emotions from Keiya.

Keiya on the other hand, is immediately done with the entire situation, rushing into his yakuza office and shooting the wall. This kind of protective action isn’t all bad, played up for laughs. It’s the most acceptable exchange the two have. Then it goes south.

The name of this episode, “Maidenly Feelings and Parental Feelings,” is absolutely weird. When Keiya’s overprotectiveness leads them to a shoujo fall to the floor when he takes away the phone, you’re reminded about what kind of anime this is, and despite being illustrated with the same character model that was used when he met Isaku at 15, he’s a whole man. Despite the romantic tropes presenting the scene, Keiya’s continued push to talk about who Isaku should date brings the episode name forward in an uncomfortable way.

But that’s not all. When Isaku does go out with her new friends, it turns out they’re awful. They drink, they smoke, and Tamaru isn’t taking no for an answer. While Keiya showing up and protecting Isaku is obviously a good thing, it’s how the situation is handled in the car afterward. Starting with a car backseat kabedon moment, A Girl and Her Guard Dog Episode 2 removes any question as to whether or not Isaku’s crush is one-sided.

We knew the moment was coming, but the path there and doing so with “parental feelings” in the title is off-putting in a way that the manga wasn’t. Additionally, the choices in animation stand out again, specifically because we have more moments where the scene is tight on the eyes of a character. While Isaku’s have some life to them, Keiya’s are empty, and Tamaru’s eyes are empty as if they were only animated to look attractive without looking too closely at them.

As a whole, A Girl and Her Guard Dog Episode 2 shows that the series isn’t going to shy away from the main reason this age-gap romance is supremely weird. As much as an adult dating a high schooler is problematic, we all still shipped Mamarou and Usagi. Getting over that hurdle is one thing that isn’t wild when it comes to shoujo romances. But here, we have to get over the fact that Keiya is a father figure and sees himself as such, and the series itself won’t let you forget that, even as it keeps putting the two physically closer as time goes on.

Additionally, from a pacing perspective, the series spends too much time recapping the story so far and using elements from the end of the last episode. It eats into time for the story to continue and somehow manages to pace itself so slowly that moments that should be climactic feel condensed and small in scale.

A Girl and Her Guard Dog Episode 2 is another baffling mix of odd adaptation choices, awkward character proportions, and the constant reminder that Keiya is a whole man in a school uniform with “parental feelings” as much as boyfriend ones. This is a weird ride.

A Girl and Her Guard Dog Season 1 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.