My Hero Academia Creator Returns to Shonen Jump with Horror One-Shot

Kohei Horikoshi has published his first original manga in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump since wrapping My Hero Academia in August 2024.

He unveiled a 61-page horror one-shot titled “Quit Laughing, Shijima” in the magazine’s combined Issue #37-38 on August 10.

The standalone story, released with a center color page and available in English on the Shonen Jump App and MANGA Plus, represents a sharp genre departure for the artist.

He spent a decade building one of the industry’s flagship superhero franchises.

Publisher VIZ describes the work as a “boy-meets-girl horror” tale set in a seaside city where a young boy named Azumi develops feelings for an upperclassman named Shijima.

Her infectious laugh has made her the center of attention among their peers.

Horror Roots Beneath the Surface

Azumi is the only person who can see a monstrous presence lurking in the surrounding seas.

The truth behind the creature reveals that Shijima is meant to be the latest in a long lineage of sacrifices offered to an elder god of the sea.

Azumi resolves to save her at any cost.

The premise signals Horikoshi leaning into atmospheric dread and small-town dread rather than the bombastic superpowered combat that defined his previous series.

“Everyone in this strange town seems to admire Shijima, but beneath the surface lies a sinister secret…”

VIZ’s official synopsis reads.

Bones Eyes Anime Adaptation

Studio Bones, the animation house behind My Hero Academia’s eight-season run, has already expressed interest in bringing the one-shot to screens.

Speaking to ComicBook, studio president Masahiko Minami said: “If there is an opportunity, myself and Studio BONES would be very interested in bringing the anime to life.”

Any adaptation would mark a fresh collaboration between Horikoshi and the studio that animated his work for a decade.

Horikoshi’s Jump Legacy

The one-shot lands two years after the conclusion of My Hero Academia, which ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2014 to 2024.

It surpassed 100 million copies in circulation worldwide.

The series joined a small cohort of recent mega-hits that includes Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, and Attack on Titan in clearing that threshold.

Before My Hero Academia, Horikoshi wrote Barrage and Oumagadoki Zoo for the magazine.

He established a relationship with Shueisha that now spans three distinct projects across more than a decade.

The My Hero Academia anime adaptation concluded its official run in December 2025 with an eighth season produced by Bones Film.

It was followed by a “More” bonus special from Bones on May 2, 2026, and a six-minute “I Am A Hero Too” mini-episode that adapted the manga’s final bonus material.

Horikoshi’s pivot to horror arrives with the franchise’s anime legacy formally closed.

It frees him to explore darker territory unencumbered by continuity obligations to the hero series.

The same issue of Weekly Shonen Jump also marks the 50th anniversary of Osamu Akimoto’s KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops.

A milestone that puts Horikoshi’s new one-shot in the company of one of the magazine’s longest-running comedy series.

Whether “Quit Laughing, Shijima” expands into a full serialization remains an open question.

Its release positions Horikoshi among the rare manga creators capable of drawing international attention with a single 61-page entry.

Sources

• ComicBook