Kohei Horikoshi spent ten years drawing heroes who could flatten city blocks, villains who could reduce people to dust, and teenagers who considered shattered bones a normal Tuesday afternoon. After finishing My Hero Academia , he had every reason to take a long vacation somewhere far away from deadlines, ink stains, and editors asking whether the next chapter could somehow be even bigger. Instead, Horikoshi is coming back to Weekly Shonen Jump with horror. His new manga, Don’t Laugh, Shijima san , is a 61 page one shot described as a “boy meets girl horror” story. That wonderfully strange combination is nearly all we have been told, but it already feels like more than a routine victory lap from a famous creator. This is Horikoshi stepping outside the enormous shadow of My Hero Academia and reminding everyone that beneath the capes, school festivals, and inspirational speeches, he has always been extremely good at drawing things that should not be allowed near a peaceful night’s sleep. What Is Don’t Laugh, Shijima san? The Japanese title is Warawanaide yo Shijima san , commonly translated as Don’t Laugh, Shijima san or Please Don’t Laugh, Shijima san . It is an original, self contained manga written and illustrated by Kohei Horikoshi. The one shot will run for 61 pages and receive center color treatment. That is a substantial page count for a standalone Jump story. Horikoshi is not returning with a tiny sketch, a My Hero Academia bonus chapter, or six pages of Deku buying groceries. There is enough room to establish characters, build tension, reveal something horrible, and emotionally ruin us before the final page. The official description calls it a boy meets girl horror story. No detailed synopsis has been revealed, and the relationship between the central characters remains unknown. We do not know whether Shijima san is the girl, the monster, the victim, or all three at once. Horror titles enjoy making introductions complicated. The first promotional illustration shows a young male protagonist and a dark haired heroine together, presenting an almost youthful mood before the horror label makes everything suspicious. It has the energy of a chance encounter that would be adorable in another manga and deeply concerning in this one. Don’t Laugh, Shijima san Release Date Don’t Laugh, Shijima san will be published on August 10, 2026 , in the combined Issue 37/38 of Weekly Shonen Jump. The release is Horikoshi’s first original one shot in the magazine since My Hero Academia concluded in August 2024. After spending roughly a decade inside one massive weekly series, returning with a contained story feels like a smart move. It gives him room to experiment without immediately chaining himself to another long serialization schedule. At the time of writing, an official English language release has not been announced. Weekly Shonen Jump one shots sometimes appear through international digital services such as MANGA Plus or Viz Media’s Shonen Jump platform, but readers should not assume a simultaneous translation until one is confirmed. For now, the Japanese magazine release is the only guaranteed option. Expect English speaking fans to watch official manga platforms closely on August 10, probably while refreshing hard enough to qualify as a Quirk. Why Horror Is Perfect for Kohei Horikoshi The genre shift sounds dramatic until you remember what Horikoshi actually drew throughout My Hero Academia. This is the artist who created Tomura Shigaraki’s severed hand covered appearance, the distorted bodies of the Nomu, Overhaul’s grotesque transformations, Dabi’s burned and stapled flesh, and several late series battles that looked like superhero comics had wandered into a body horror convention. Even when My Hero Academia was hopeful, its villains often carried a physical wrongness that made them unforgettable. Horikoshi is especially good at corrupting familiar shapes. Hands, smiles, faces, school uniforms, and human silhouettes become unsettling because they remain recognizable while being pushed just far enough into nightmare territory. He does not always need a giant monster. Sometimes one carefully drawn expression can do the damage. He also understands visual impact. My Hero Academia regularly used enormous spreads, but some of its most unnerving moments were quiet panels built around eyes, shadows, or a character standing unnaturally still. Horror depends on timing, negative space, and knowing when not to reveal the entire threat. Those skills have been hiding inside his superhero manga for years. Honestly, the surprising part is not that Horikoshi is making horror. The surprising part is that it took this long for Jump to hand him 61 pages and tell him to be creepy on purpose. What Does “Boy Meets Girl Horror” Mean? “Boy meets girl” usually suggests romance, coming of age drama, or a strange encounter that changes two lives. Adding horror creates several possibilities, nearly all of which end badly for somebody. The story could follow an ordinary boy drawn toward a girl connected to a supernatural secret. Shijima san might be haunted, cursed, dangerous, or hiding from something even worse. The title could refer to a condition involving laughter, an embarrassing social moment twisted into terror, or a warning that sounds harmless until the reader learns why laughing is forbidden. The wording suggests the relationship will matter as much as the scares. This may not be a simple creature feature where two teenagers run from a monster for 60 pages. Horikoshi has plenty of experience building emotional connections quickly, and a one shot forces every interaction to count. The horror may come from caring about these characters before understanding what one of them truly is. Of course, that is speculation. The official announcement has deliberately revealed very little beyond the genre, length, release date, and central pair. Anyone claiming to know the full plot right now either has secret Jump access or has activated the dangerous Quirk known as Making Stuff Up Online. Is This Horikoshi’s Next Full Manga Series? Not yet. Don’t Laugh, Shijima san is officially a one shot , meaning it is intended to tell a complete story in a single installment. There has been no announcement of an ongoing serialization, anime adaptation, collected volume, or larger franchise. That does not mean it could never continue. Weekly Shonen Jump has a long history of using one shots to test concepts and measure reader interest. If Don’t Laugh, Shijima san becomes a runaway hit and leaves room for expansion, Shueisha will certainly notice. Still, expectations should remain grounded. This may simply be Horikoshi enjoying the freedom to tell one polished horror story after completing one of the most demanding manga runs of the last decade. Not every one shot needs to become a 400 chapter epic with three movies, a mobile game, and collectible popcorn buckets. Why This Return Matters After My Hero Academia Following a career defining hit is difficult. My Hero Academia became a global gateway series, a long running anime, a movie franchise, and one of the defining Weekly Shonen Jump titles of its era. Whatever Horikoshi created next was always going to be compared with it. Choosing horror helps him avoid making My Hero Academia Again, But Everyone Wears Different Jackets . A standalone story lets readers meet Horikoshi on fresh ground. There are no Quirks to explain, no hero rankings to track, and no decade of continuity behind every panel. New readers can enter without homework, while longtime fans can see which parts of Horikoshi’s storytelling remain when the superhero framework disappears. That makes Don’t Laugh, Shijima san interesting beyond its plot. It is our first real look at Horikoshi’s post My Hero Academia direction. He may return to action eventually, explore horror more deeply, or spend the next few years making one shots whenever a strange idea refuses to leave him alone. Horikoshi’s Horror Era Could Be Something Special There is something refreshing about this announcement. Horikoshi could have returned with another superhero project built to satisfy the safest expectations. Instead, he made a boy meets girl horror manga with an ominous title and almost no explanation. Don’t Laugh, Shijima san may be a brief experiment, the foundation of a future series, or a beautifully drawn nightmare that arrives, unsettles everyone, and disappears. We will not know until August 10. What we do know is that Horikoshi’s talent for expressive faces, disturbing designs, emotional vulnerability, and explosive visual storytelling makes him unusually well suited for horror. My Hero Academia taught us that anyone can become a hero. Horikoshi’s next lesson may be simpler: when the creepy girl asks you not to laugh, do not laugh .