Following the conclusion of the My Hero Academia anime‘s final season late last year, fans have eagerly awaited the next project from manga creator Kohei Horikoshi. He has now answered those questions with a major shift in genre. His brand-new horror-romance one-shot, titled Quit Laughing, Shijima, has just debuted on the Shonen Jump app and website.
Spanning 61 pages, the narrative follows Azumi, a high school sophomore harboring feelings for an upperclassman named Shijima, who is well-known for her vibrant personality and booming laugh. Naturally, their story takes a detour far away from a standard romantic comedy. Originally debuting in Japan in the 37/38 issue of Weekly Shonen Jump on August 10, the standalone tale now has an official English digital release.
This marks Horikoshi’s first contribution to Shonen Jump since the conclusion of My Hero Academia, which serialized from 2014 to 2024. Prior to that massive success, he created Barrage and Oumagadoki Zoo for the publication. My Hero Academia cemented its legacy as one of the best-selling manga in history, crossing the 100-million-sales milestone alongside modern titans like Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, and Attack on Titan.
Meanwhile, the screen adaptation wrapped up its broadcast journey in December 2025 with an action-packed eighth season by Bones Film, offering fans plenty of emotional payoffs. Bones followed this up on May 2, 2026, with the “More” bonus special to serve as a fitting epilogue, alongside the brief six-minute “I Am A Hero Too” mini-episode adapting the manga’s final extra pages.
Ever since the My Hero Academia manga finished, fans humorously dubbed an active Horikoshi—who frequently shared intricate artwork to celebrate episodes of the anime—as one of the art world’s most productive “unemployed” creators. Now that he has delivered this unexpected departure into horror, readers are left wondering what style his next major serialized project will embrace.
You can check out Quit Laughing, Shijima completely free here.