English Dub Review: The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody “According to a God”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
On their way to the class field trip, a mysterious young boy claiming to be a god appears before Ard, Ireena, and Ginny. After making a mysterious request, the god sends the three of them back into the ancient era when Varvatos was active. After deciding to try and gain an audience with Varvatos in order to change their situation, they encounter a woman fighting monsters in a field. Then a figure they all know very well appears before them…

Our Take:
The Academy’s festival came to an exciting conclusion last week with Sylphy gaining a satisfying closure to her arc that started with “The Raging Champion”. This episode sees Ard and his friends on another quest far beyond their school. By that, I mean back to the past. However, don’t expect them to encounter Samuari Jack during their time-twisting adventure.
“According to a God” has Ard, Ireena, and Ginny having their class field trip interrupted by a young boy who claims to be a god. The boy then sends them to the time during Varvatos’ reign to prevent a mysterious being from destroying the world. After rescuing a woman from Death Stingers, Ard and the others encounter Olivia, who asks them to join Varvatos’ army in a fight against the demons who waged war on the humans. They also meet a magical scholar named Verda, along with Sylphy and Lydia.
The previous episodes briefly showcased Ard’s previous life as Varvatos via flashbacks amid his everyday adventures at the Academy. This episode attempts to change that by having this timeline front and center and having Ard and the girls experience it for themselves. This was another acceptable change of pace for the show’s formula since we knew very little about Varvatos’ history, which adds to the episode’s intrigue and enjoyability.
The episode also introduces yet another new character in the form of Verda El Hazard. Verda is a scholar who works at the research institute in Kingsglaive and is a former member of the Four Heavenly Kings. Aside from her blowing up her own center (which was admittedly amusing), her first impression sadly came off as irritating regarding her high-pitched voice. I mean no disrespect to the voice actress who voices Verda, but I’m hoping she turns around and become more tolerable later on, similar to Sylphy.
It also sees the return of Sylphy, but only for a brief moment where she’s chasing down Verda. However, the biggest shock comes from Lydia, who reveals herself as a lesbian when she sexually harasses Ginny. It looks like Ard may have unintentionally gotten some competition for Ginny’s heart, and it’s her former lover. I can’t wait to see how that turns out in the later episodes.
Overall, “According to a God” is an enjoyable time-traveling adventure with Ard experiencing his past from a different perspective. Unfortunately, Ireena and Ginny are still at odds with one another regarding winning Ard’s heart, which is still getting old pretty fast. There’s also a matter of Ginny being in danger of being sexually harassed by Lydia again. Other than that, it’s a solid beginning of what seems to be the final arc of the season.