The Ringer-Verse - Ringer-Verse Recommends: June 2025

Episode Date: July 1, 2025

Was June slow? Not so! Let Ringer-Verse Recommends tell you what to know. Sit back and enjoy the show. Join your favorite Ringer-Verse and House of R hosts as they salute unsung nerd culture content in the latest installment of the monthly mini-pod about fandom favorites from TV, anime, movies, video games, books, comics, and beyond that were released recently but not yet covered in-depth on a full-length episode. Host: Ben LindberghGuests: Jomi Adeniran, Steve Ahlman, Arjuna Ramgopal, Charles Holmes, Joanna Robinson, Van Lathan, and Mallory RubinSenior Producer: Steve AhlmanSocial: Jomi Adeniran Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I am Ben Lindberg, button mash host, senior editor for The Ringer, and your master of ceremonies here at the end of every month on Ringerverse recommends, where once again we have gathered to shout out some releases from the last month that we really liked, but haven't had a chance to talk about in depth on an episode of the Ringerverse or House of R. However, this time we are making up for those oversights, and we have the whole crew here. For the first time in a little while, we have all of the House of Our and Ringerverse hosts assembled. It's just the core crew here to give you the things that we liked, released in June, more or less, that we think you should check out and wouldn't want you to miss.

Now, this was sort of a slower month from a content perspective. It was a little lull between Lest of Us and Andor and the big superhero movies coming in July. However, that does not mean that there wasn't good stuff released in June. And some of it was a little lower profile. And so you may have missed it until now, until we rectify that oversight. So I will get to everyone soon. I'm here, as always, of course, with my co-pilot for these episodes, Grumkin, the Loyal Doxand.

You can watch these episodes on YouTube or in the Spotify app, or you can just listen to them, old school audio-only style. And gosh, we just have so much to get to that I guess we will. Now, you may have noticed that there have been some audio clips that we have sprinkled into some recent episodes. We can use them in limited doses and in some contexts, just not quite as long as we used to. And also, kind of only when they're about something that we're talking. talking about. And so at least for the purposes of Ringervor's recommends trailers still off limits, still verboten. So you are still stuck with me acting out the trailers in my amateurish,

but hopefully entertaining way. So we have been without Mallory Rubin, our fearless leader, for a little while. And so she will be teeing off this episode. I will just remind everyone that I'll be back later in the episode not only with my recommendation, but then at the very end, to recap everyone's picks, and to give you this month's listener nomination, which as always was sent to Ringerverse Recommends at gmail.com, where we welcome your nominations and submissions for July and beyond. So now let's lead off with Mao. From the studio that gave you Spider-Man across the Spider-Verse and will one day give you Spider-Man beyond the Spider-Verse. It's time. Dun-d-dun-da-ha! The world will know you as pop-st

But you will be much more than that. Wow! You will be hunters. Jung, Jing, ding, ding. Coordinated dancing. Pretend I'm doing it. I'm not really going to. They're stealing the souls of our fans.

Let's send those disgusting demons back to the depths where they belong. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, everyone. It's Mal. And I'm here for June's Ringervverse recommends to tell you about

K-pop Demon Hunters, the new-ish net. animated film from Sony Pictures. If you have ever wondered, can K-pop save the world, then this movie is definitely for you. If you have not personally wondered that, but you have wondered why so many other people seem to think that, this movie might also be for you.

It is about the power of song, the power of community, friendship, love, belief, confidence in who you are, to save each other and to save the world. It is the story of three young women who are K-pop stars and also happen to be demon hunters. Their band, Huntrix, finds itself in a sudden rivalry with a K-pop boy band comprised of demons and a battle for not only K-pop supremacy, but the souls of K-pop fans everywhere and thus the soul of Earth ensues.

what? It's a blast. The animation is vibrant and gripping. The voice cast is sensational. The songs are absolute bangers. Yes, there are some really excellent magical creatures, including a demon tiger. And if you're wondering, hey, is Mal recommending this because some of the cartoons are hot, you already know the answer, don't you? It's a really lovely story. I don't want to obviously spoil any of the specifics and particulars for you, but this is really It's really a story about embracing who you are and sharing your life with other people who can help you do that too. It is about pain and sorrow. It is about shame.

And it is ultimately about acceptance, yes, but also K-pop and the power of K-pop. So check it out. It really is a blast. See you in July. From the studio behind Sifu. Hey, Ringervverse. Steve Allman here with another Ringiverse recommends. This month, I'm going to recommend a video game once again, but it's going to be, get this concept, think of Rocket League, but with people, I know that's crazy. Steve isn't that called soccer? Guess what it is? And it's called rematch. What makes this different than a soccer game that's just like FIFA, you might say?

Well, it's made by SlowClap, the people that made Seifu last year and absolver. two amazing games that I love very much. What are you thinking, doing fighting games and now making a sports game? Well, it actually makes for a really good football game to make basically fighting characters, the sort of mechanics and, like, tactile nature of a soccer game being used to kick a ball. It really feels great to play. I think that's probably the biggest highlight of it. It's pretty much structured just like Rocket League.

It's not really like a formalized, like, off-sides or certain kickers or certain players. Like, it's a 3V3, 4-4, or 5-V-5 soccer game. And basically anybody can run for the ball, set up plays, become the goalkeeper, switch out on the fly, do everything that's, like, basically required to view in soccer, but it's a very simple, accessible, and fun way to play. I've played it for several hours already. It's been really, really fun. check it out. Rematch by Slow Clap Games, pretty much wherever you can play games.

All I ever really wanted was to find a place to fit in. It's really happening. Don't stop me now. Whoa. Welcome. Allow me to adjust your gravity. I'm fine. Gravity on. Don't stop me now. Can I trouble you for a DNA sample? Sure. Where do you want it? Having a good time. Having a good time. Wow! Shooting star leaping through the sky like a tiger. I am the universal user's manual. I contain the secrets of the universe.

Burning through the sky, yeah. This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Hey, Ringiverse fans, Arjuna here with my June recommendation. I'm recommending Pixar's newest film, Elio. The sci-fi action adventure is now playing in theaters. It's the latest of a long line of Pixar movies. But what makes it really great is it's not another sequel. It's not another spin-off.

It's an original movie. You know, we're talking all the time that we want original movies, original stories out there. Well, there's one right there. So all of you Pixar fans who love the classic kind of Pixar movie, that Pixar Magic, go see Elio. It is just a really fun time. It is just a fun space adventure with a lot of action. some humor, some heart, that Pixar kind of, you know, formula that they always go for. So it's worth seeing in the theaters, worth seeing with your friends, with your family, with other people.

It's just a fun time. So I definitely recommend it. Go check it out. And let us know what you think. Imagine, if you will, a faraway land. An island. A love island. Where contestants are cut off from the outside world.

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And this month I'm talking not only is it the biggest thing in fandom? It's the biggest thing in America, baby. I'm talking about Love Island, U.S.A. Guys, if you're not watching, lock in. Where have you been? This is cinema right now.

I don't want to spoil the whole thing for you because if you've not tapped in, then you've got to start of episode one, and there's just so much drama. But if you know, you know, you know. This season is filled with betrayal and lies and deception.

It's almost like they're not even playing Love Line at all and they're playing traitors or Survivor or some. You know, in a beautiful Fiji Villa. They change the way they do Koso More. It's a whole thing. If you are listening to me and you love drama and you love hot singles in your area

and you love everything about just being outside in the summer and I talk about being outside. If you know what I mean. Love Violin, USA is the show for you. I cannot recommend it enough. Now, it is five episodes

every week for like six weeks. So it is a lot of content. But, but if you're a real one, you'll lock in. So make sure to watch Love Island USA. You can go back and watch season six. That's a

really good season. But season seven is where the hot goss is right now. Make sure you tap in. A long time ago, a very long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. It is a time of peace and prosperity for the Jedi and the Republic, and yet also a time of no fewer than three existential threats to life itself. The invading, marauding Nile, the dastardly dregir, the blasted blight, can life and the galaxy survive? No, this is not the prequel trilogy era. This is not the original trilogy era. This is not the sequel trilogy era.

This is not even the old Republic era. What else is there? There's the High Republic era. For Light and Life, we are all the Republic. Hey, friends, it's Ben back again with my recommendation. Now, we're in a bit of an on-screen Star Wars lull. There's not much Star Wars coming to TV, let alone movie theaters in the rest of this year. Visions aside.

So if you're looking for something, and it's okay if you're not, sometimes it's okay to take a break from our favorite franchises. But if you need a Star Wars fix, then have I got the recommendation for you? Here it is. It is Star Wars, the High Republic, Trials of the Jedi by one of my favorite Star Wars writers working today, Charles Sol. Now, this is not where you want to start with High Republic. This is where it ends. This is the culmination of about four and a half years of interconnected storytelling across books and comics and short stories and so many media.

But Sol started at all with Light of the Jedi back in early 2021. This is a publishing initiative that was announced back in 2019 before Mandalorian, before Rise of Skywalker. This was in the works. And now the main storyline, the final phase of, of the High Republic, has come to an end in this book, Trials of the Jedi, and I will say it's a satisfying conclusion. Again, don't start here. If you're just looking to dip your toe into the High Republic, start with Seoul's first novel in the series, Light of the Jedi. But this is here waiting for you

at the end of the series. I've been reading High Republic now for years. I'm pretty deeply invested in it. I would say that on the whole, it was a bit of a mixed bag. The highs were very high. There was kind of a double-edged sword to the High Republic. It was a huge project in scope, just sprawling across dozens and dozens and dozens of releases. And that was both the good thing about it and the bad thing about it. Because the good thing was if you really got invested in all of that and did your homework and did your research and your reading, then the connections among those various releases were just riveting, really, to feel like you recognize something that was told somewhere else years ago and now it's coming to fruition. However, if you just wanted to dabble, it was tough to follow the narrative because even if, like me,

you read just about all of the main novels, tons of comics, I still felt like I was scratching the surface a lot of the time because there were all these all ages comics and young adults. and young reader novels. And sometimes important story developments happened in those. And unless you wanted to be completely comprehensive and read everything, you were going to miss some stuff. And then when you catch up with the series, there's going to be a lot of exposition and backstory and kind of catching people up. And so it was a bit disjointed.

There were just so many characters that took place over such a long span that sometimes it was tough to really feel like you were locked in and tapped in as Jomey would say to the overarching narrative. However, I think on the whole, it was very successful in really starting up a new just outpost for the franchise, a new time period. If like me, you're kind of frustrated with Lucas Films' on-screen rehashing of the same old stories and the same old characters and the same old time periods. This is something new. This is taking place hundreds of years before the prequels even, almost entirely distinct characters, other than some of the the ancient characters who are still surviving when you get to the prequel trilogy or beyond

Yoda, for instance. But mostly it's a new cast of characters, and they really feel like fully established Star Wars characters to me now. So this is the way that I'd like to see Star Wars go, just charting new paths, new lore, new ships, new characters, new concepts. And there is just so much of that in the High Republic. So it's not a step to take lightly. If you start down this light path forever would dominate your reading destiny, but in many ways, it's worth it. And there have been a few crossovers, obviously the acolyte, young Jedi adventures, some of the Jedi games, Star Wars outlaws, you know, even in more recent series, even in Andor, you might see some light tie-in. So this is just a part of the universe that's going to be seeding those

on-screen stories. And we'll continue to be told in various ways. You know, we will see seeds that were planted in the High Republic sprouting elsewhere in the Star Wars universe. And who knows, maybe there will be even a more dedicated on-screen adaptation of it more so than the accolade, which took place a lot later than most of these stories. So trials of the Jedi, Charles Sol,

that's where it all ends. But wherever you explore, wherever you choose to tap into this, check out Star Wars, the High Republic. There's a lot of excellent stuff there. I'm sure you know, katana have always saved lives and slashed open new eras. They're still tools for killing people. The son of a master swordsmith.

Ding, ding, ding, ding. Out for revenge with his enchanted blade. I can't allow slime like you to wield katana. I have to cut them down. Yo-yo, it is Coke, baby, the resident weep here at the ringerverse. And I want to nominate something that is getting so fucking good. Okay, I'm talking about Cogorabachi, Shonen Jump, Battle Shonen. You can start getting these volumes.

They're out. Go to your local library. Get Libby. It's only 99 cents on the Shonen Jump app. And it is, I'm telling you, the peaks that this story is getting to right now. It is about a young boy on a. revenge mission. Basically, it's like his dad was Oppenheimer. He creates these magical swords. They destroy a bunch of shit. He gets killed. The son is like, fuck this. I'm taking my magical

sword and I'm getting busy. Everything that's happening, Samura with the crows. And then, and then, you know, my man is learning all what it takes to be a good sword fighter. And it's just the shit that I'll fucking live for. Put it in my veins. Also, One Piece is incredible right now. So if you haven't been locked in on one piece, also get locked in on one piece. But my pick for this month is Kagabachi. I believe three volumes are out, two or three volumes are out, where books are sold. But yeah, if you have a kid, you know, and I would say if they're above the age of eight, you know, check it out. Like, check it out of your library.

Tell them like, yo, I got some for you. And I promise you're going to instill a love of manga and reading and revenge and battle show de nonsense. Santo Domingo de la Calsada, Spain, 1521. The widow arrives on a Wednesday. Maria remembers because Wednesdays are for bathing, and her hair takes an age to dry after it's been washed and combed. She remembers because it is warm for the end of April, and she is sitting in a patch of sun at the edge of the yard,

sucking on a cherry pit, one of the first of the season, and holding a lock up to the light to see if the hair is turning dark, or if it is simply damp. Maria's mother says she is becoming too vain, but then her mother is the one who makes her go to bed each week with clay in her hair, hoping it will mute the glaring strands. As far as Maria can tell, it isn't working.

If anything, the hair looks even brighter. She would not mind so much, Maria's mother, if the hair were honey-colored, or earthy, even Auburn. But such an angry shade of red, she says, is a bad omen. Not a warm color, but the hot orange of an open flame, one she cannot seem to douse. What's up at babies? Hello, Ring or Verse listeners. It's Joanna Robinson of House of Art here to talk to you about my Ringerverse recommends for June. Come in under the wire, I wanted to recommend a vampire book that I've actually already talked about a little bit on House of Ar, so maybe this is a cheat. But I want to recommend it anyway. It's called Barrier Bones in the Midnight.

Soil by V. E. Schwab. You might know V.E. Schwab. She's written a ton of incredible, you know, fantasy magic-based books, but The Invisible Life of Adi Leroux is probably her most popular, most famous, sort of broke out from genre readers, I think, into a wider audience. And this is her first book set in the same universe as Adi Leroux. She's calling it The Garden. It takes place over hundreds of years, and it's about three young women who get turned into vampires, and it's got all this really cool new lore about vampirism, some fun historical fiction stuff thrown in there, some really interesting thoughts about hunger, what it means to be a woman in the world, what it means to want power, what that power comes at the cost of, all that sort of stuff.

So if you love Anne Rice interview with vampire, that kind of stuff, you're going to absolutely love this book. I devoured. I loved it so much. I savored it. Um, so that's barrier bones in the midnight soil, Fee E Schwab. I hope you read it the summer on a beach somewhere, um, with a lot of SPF and sunglasses as any good vampire should. And, um, I will see you next month. Bye. Oh, tech is the future. Riri, you can actually help people. I know. So where's your arc reactor?

That's like the... You know, they don't exactly hand those out. When I got back from Oconda, I felt stuck. To bring my ideas to life, I need cash. Come work for me. I assume these jobs aren't exactly legal. Not exactly. So you in or out?

What's up guys? It's Van Lathen coming to you live from the set of higher learning with Van Lathen and Rachel Lindsay on the Ringer Podcasts network. Yeah. All right. I'm going to zag for my Ring of Verse recommends. I'm going to recommend the show Ironheart on Disney Plus. Now, a lot of you out there, they're like, why would Van recommend that when you listened to the Midnight Boys' breakdown of Iron Heart, which you should be listening to? And it didn't seem like he was over the moon about the first three episodes of the show. I'll tell you why. I'm recommending it to you because I believe that shows like Ironheart inside of universes like the MCU and cultures like Nariculture should be supported and should be given a chance. And I'm recommending it to you not because I love it, but because it's necessary. and I am attempting in all of the ways that I communicate with you guys to let you know that not everything that I think is necessary that I will necessarily love. I think that stories should exist and will exist way beyond the scope of how I come to those stories

and receive those stories. An Iron Heart, which tells the story, of a young black female genius in Chicago trying to deal with her trauma and her ambition through her ingenuity is a story that desperately needs to be told. Am I one of the people,

really the few people, when you look at the overall response to the show, that thinks that maybe the story needs to be told better? Yeah, maybe. Maybe it wasn't hidden for me like it was hidden for everyone else. But the story needs to be told and it

needs to be heard and I'm recommending that you give it a chance. Upon this recording, I have not seen the last three episodes of Iron Heart, but I am hoping that it rounds into something I'm a little bit higher on, but whether it does or whether it doesn't, I think you guys

should give it a spin. Thank you. Poo-Pew. All right, it's Ben and Grum back again one more time to take us home another month of recommendations in the books and the comic books and the movies and the TV shows. And as usual, we mostly stuck to our mandate of covering nerd culture releases that we hadn't talked about in depth on the podcast network already. We always stray slightly from that job description. And, hey, those deviations keep life unpredictable and interesting. And you know what else makes life interesting?

listener nominations for Ringaverse Recommends, which can and should be submitted to Ringaverse Recommends at gmail.com. Now, this month, we received multiple nominations from Zach F and J.B. Bonifacio for K-pop Demon Hunters. Thank you guys, but sorry, Mal vultured that pick. She beat you to it. But we do have one original recommendation from listener Brandon Parker. I regret this. I truly do. It was my hope that this meeting. would be about trade, treaties, and other matters that predominantly concern the bringing together of our empires. But that will have to wait. Because there can be no union when there are people in this room who seek the death of those who sit beside them. There has been murder done.

Regicide. And it was one of you. Gasp! Sort of a bare month for some stuff that hasn't been covered in depth already. But I can throw a shout out to to Imperial, the new Marvel miniseries being written by Jonathan Hickman. After having success with mutants and Krakawa, Hickman is now setting his sights on cosmic Marvel. And in Imperial number one, we have high intrigue and mystery as leaders across the galaxy are being assassinated and the culprit must be found. One of the leaders is the ruler of Sikar, the son of the Hulk, and he's not going to leave that be.

However, learning that other empires are facing the same fate, with leaders dying left and right, he must leave Sikar and enter the body politic of the galaxy full of scrolls, Shia, Kri, and other races. And he's not the only one on the case, as Peter Quill and Nova have also been tasked to look into the case. And hey, the sensational She-Hulk is ruling Sikar while the Hulk is gone. What's going to happen next? We will find out. Thank you, Brandon.

Please do keep those listener recommendations coming at the end of every month to Ringiverse Recommends at gmail.com. You can send them early in the month, too. whenever strikes your fancy. And I want to send a shout out. I want to dedicate that listener nomination to Kermm, Jonathan Kerma, who is much missed, especially on this series. Kermm always appreciated your contributions to Ringverse recommends. Often Marvel Comics themed, so this is appropriate. We love you and miss you, buddy. Thanks, Kerm. Okay, now let's do the traditional ceremonial recitation of recommendations. We let off with Maori Rubin, who recommended K-pop

Demon Hunters on Netflix. Steve Alman told you about rematch the video game on PC, PS5, Xbox, Series X-S. Our Drunum Ram Gapal picked Elio Pixar movie in theaters now, soon to be streaming probably many times in my household on Disney Plus. Jomea Denneron shouted out Love Island USA. You can watch the new episodes on Peacock and the old episodes on many another streaming service.

I mentioned Star Wars Trials of the Jedi, a new novel by Charles. Soul, and also just the High Republic Publishing Initiative in general. Charles Holmes told you about Kagrabachi, a manga in Shonan Jump. Joanna Robinson shouted out, bury our bones in the midnight soil, a novel by V.E. Schwab. And Van Lathen told you about Ironheart on Disney Plus, series finale coming this week. Plus, our listener nomination from Brandon Parker, Imperial No. 1, Marvel comic written by Jonathan Hickman drawn by Iban Cueo and Federico Bicentini. So thanks to all of you. There is so much to look forward to in July. And yes, Fantastic Four and Superman and many other major releases, but also

right here on the Ringerverse Network. This week, you can look forward to Mint Edition's summer franchise draft. The Midnight Boys, Poo! Poo! We'll be talking about that aforementioned Iron Heart finale, as well as Jurassic World Rebirth. They will be convening Midnight. Night Court to talk about Superman versus Fantastic Four. Over on House of Our, Squid Game, season three, deep dive, double episode release this week. And you can stay tuned for upcoming Button Mash episodes as well. So that brings this latest edition of Ringaverse recommends to a close. Thanks as always to you for listening.

Thanks to Steve Allman for producing this episode. Thanks to our Juneer Ramgapal for green lighting it. And as always, until next time, we hope. hope you'll recommend the ringerverse. Feels like every product claims real protein these days. But real doesn't start on a label. It starts at the source. Like real California milk from California farm families,

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