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The announcement that we’re getting a new Mobile Suit Gundam manga this year is cause for celebration for fans. The most recent anime film managed an impressive box office showing despite its limited theatrical run, so it isn’t surprising that a new manga is in the works. However, the title of this new Mobile Suit Gundam manga is strange enough that it requires a Gundam history lesson to make sense of.

The Gundam manga in question was announced last week as Tobacco Smoke Is Not Affected by Minovsky by Kouzou Omori. Omori is a manga artist who has worked on multiple entries in the Gundam franchise, including the manga adaptation of Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative. The first chapter of this new Gundam manga is due out on June 26, 2026 when a prologue chapter is published in Gundam Ace magazine.

Plot details for the manga are, understandably, still unknown, but we’re intrigued by the implications of the title alone. Minovsky is a well-known name in the Gundam universe, both as the physics-breaking particle and the man who found it. Without delving too deeply into what M Particles are within the Gundam franchise, they are a fictional atomic particle created by nuclear reactors in the series that cause havoc with communications equipment. This makes long-range weapons nearly impossible to use in space, which is why the series relies so heavily on close-combat robots. Without Minovsky, the iconic Gundams we all love wouldn’t exist.

The idea that there is some relationship between tobacco smoke and Minovsky Particles is bizarre yet fascinating. The title gives subtle noir vibes, with the image of someone lighting a smoke while sat atop a Gundam in the rain. Because it always has to be raining. We’ll be keeping an eye on this one when it comes out later this month.

The first chapter of Tobacco Smoke is Not Affected by Minovsky, the next entry in the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, comes out on June 26, 2026 in Gundam Ace magazine.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

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• How AI translations of manga continues the 'enshitification' of the medium, and why Japanese publishers are "less precious" about it
• I never wanted a Cyberpunk Edgerunners sequel, but God help me I'm going to watch it
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