My Hero Academia Creator Returns With Horror One-Shot

My Hero Academia (MHA) creator Kohei Horikoshi is returning to manga with a new standalone one-shot horror manga. The one-shot, titled Don’t Laugh, Shijima-san (Warawanaide yo Shijima-san), will debut in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 37/38, releasing in Japan on Aug 10, 2026. 

According to Shueisha, the 61-page story will be published entirely in color and is described as a ‘boy meets girl horror.’ Don’t Laugh, Shijima-san is his first major original work since concluding MHA, one of Shueisha’s biggest modern franchises.

A promotional illustration of the two lead characters accompanied the announcement, though Shueisha has released few other plot details. The project fulfills an ambition Horikoshi said during his previous series’ final arc, when he wrote that he had “a small desire to draw a horror manga.”

Horikoshi Tests a New Direction After My Hero Academia

Horikoshi has framed Warawanaide yo Shijima-san as a standalone one-shot, but history suggests otherwise. Even so, the project is drawing significant attention because it represents Horikoshi’s first opportunity to establish a new original property following My Hero Academia’s end.

MHA itself began as a pilot one-shot in 2008, before launching as a full serialization in 2014. That precedent can fuel speculation about whether the new horror story could expand into a series if reader response is strong.

The stakes are notable for Shueisha. My Hero Academia manga surpassed 100M copies in worldwide circulation in April 2024, splitting roughly 60M copies in Japan and 40M abroad. Horikoshi also served alongside Tite Kubo, Yūki Tabata, and Gege Akutami as a judge for Shueisha’s talent contest seeking new manga IP, underscoring how closely the mangaka is associated with the publisher’s flagship titles.