What time is it? Watches and horology

I hear you, but most reviews of the 9F online mention that it does hit the indices perfectly. Find it confusing to say the least.

I've seen that too. I'm sceptical. Minimising backlash, which is what the 9F does, does not magically make your second hand align.

Seiya Kobayashi says it best here

https://www.seiyajapan.com/blogs/news/about-the-quartz-watch-second-hand-alignment

SEIKO has come out with Backlash auto-adjust mechanism, which they use
in the Grand Seiko Quartz for reducing second hand mis-alignment.

The Grand Seiko Quartz uses the power of the spring to reduce the
slight second hand mis-alignment that is created by the backlash as
much as possible. (It’s like stopping the motion of a moving object
with the power of a spring, which is difficult to wrap my head
around.)

Even though the misalignment is far less noticeable in Grand Seiko is
n comparison to any other watch, even the meticulously crafted Grand
Seiko suffers from a slight second hand mis-alignment. (Sorry SEIKO)