Custom Image by Vanessa Piña
Published Aug 11, 2026, 6:01 PM EDT
Vanessa Piña has been a freelance writer for the ScreenRant anime section since 2024. As a senior writer, she focuses on timely coverage of the latest anime releases and updates on popular franchises.
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Two years have passed since the main story of My Hero Academia came to an end after 430 chapters in Shonen Jump. Since then, manga artist Kohei Horikoshi has kept fans waiting for a new project. However, rather than expanding the superhero universe that became a massive global hit, My Hero Academia's creator returned with a story in an entirely different genre.
Many Shonen Jump artists challenge themselves by pivoting to a different type of story from their previous hits. Assassination Classroom's creator, Yūsei Matsui, switched from sci-fi school life to historical action with The Elusive Samurai, and more recently, Gintama's author returned with the craziest isekai imaginable. Even so, Horikoshi was clear about his future even before Deku's journey concluded, as the manga artist had suggested as early as 2022 that he wanted his next manga to be a horror story.
This kind of groundwork paved the way for Horikoshi's new one-shot manga, Quit Laughing, Shijima, released on Shonen Jump on August 10, 2026, and available to Western readers on the Manga Plus app. Luckily, it isn't just a carbon copy of My Hero Academia. Quit laughing, Shijima opens up a story with great potential for a long-running publication and is already sparking the public's interest for a possible adaptation.
My Hero Academia's Creator Has a Surprisingly Romantic New Horror Manga
My Hero Academia's creator is trading superheroes for sea monsters and a high school love story in Quit Laughing, Shijima. The manga is set in Konoshiro City, where Azumi (who is interested in his ever-cheerful classmate, Shijima) finds himself conflicted about his feelings, his future, and the horrifying silhouettes he sees around her and in the sea. Horikoshi had already showcased terrifying designs with characters like Tomura Shigaraki, Stain, and Dabi in My Hero Academia, but in his new one-shot, he taps into Eldritch horrors.
From the Slime Villain to the Final War · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know My Hero Academia? “Plus Ultra!”
🏫U.A. HighClass 1-A
🧡All MightSymbol of Peace
💥BakugoDIE!!! (affectionately)
❄️Half-Cold Half-HotTodoroki Shoto
👻League of VillainsDecay incarnate
GO BEYOND →
01
My Hero Academia’s protagonist is a Quirkless boy in a Quirk-saturated world who dreams of becoming a hero. Bakugo derisively nicknames him “Deku” (a play on the kanji for “useless”) before he eventually reclaims it as a hero name. What’s his actual name?
AIzuku Midoriya BEijiro Kirishima CTenya Iida DDenki Kaminari
✓ Correct! Izuku Midoriya. The series opens with him as a 14-year-old Quirkless middle schooler obsessively cataloguing pro heroes in his battered notebooks. The kanji for his nickname Deku (弟卜) reads as “useless” in Bakugo’s mocking context, but Uraraka points out it can also be read as “dekiru” (“you can do it”) — which is the framing he eventually adopts as his hero name.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Izuku Midoriya. Eijiro Kirishima is the red-haired Hardening Quirk user who’s Bakugo’s best friend. Tenya Iida is the engine-legged class president. Denki Kaminari is the Electrification Quirk user who short-circuits into “wheyyy” mode at his limit. Deku is Izuku Midoriya.
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02
In the show’s opening arc, All Might passes his unique stockpile-and-transfer Quirk to Deku, making him the ninth holder of a power that has been refined across generations. Each previous holder leaves behind their own ability inside it. Name the Quirk.
AAll For One BOne For All CPlus Ultra DSymbol Quirk
✓ Correct! One For All — a Quirk created when the original Quirkless holder was given a power-stockpiling ability by his villainous brother, who would later become All For One. Each holder strengthens it before passing it on. By the time Deku inherits it, six previous wielders’ Quirks (Float, Blackwhip, Smokescreen, Fa Jin, Danger Sense and Gearshift) are also accessible from within. He’s the ninth and (initially) final user.
✗ Wrong. The answer is One For All. All For One is the antagonist Quirk — the one that steals and gives Quirks — and is also the name of the original villain who founded it. “Plus Ultra” is U.A.’s school motto. Deku’s inherited power is One For All.
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03
Class 1-A’s perpetually-exhausted homeroom teacher is also the underground hero Eraser Head, whose Quirk lets him cancel another person’s Quirk simply by looking at them. He sleeps in a yellow caterpillar-style sleeping bag, drinks jelly pouches and is fiercely protective of his students. What’s his name?
AHizashi Yamada BShota Aizawa CToshinori Yagi DSekijiro Kan
✓ Correct! Shota Aizawa — hero name Eraser Head, civilian name perpetually-rumpled Class 1-A homeroom teacher. His capture-weapon scarf and Erasure Quirk make him one of U.A.’s most dangerous combatants in close quarters — though the Quirk only works while his eyes are open, which he uses dramatically to prep dramatic stares before unleashing. Voiced by Junichi Suwabe in Japanese and Christopher Sabat in English.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Shota Aizawa. Hizashi Yamada is Aizawa’s loud blonde best friend — the hero Present Mic. Toshinori Yagi is the civilian name of All Might. Sekijiro Kan is Class 1-B’s homeroom teacher Vlad King. Eraser Head is Aizawa.
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04
Deku’s childhood frenemy Katsuki Bakugo is one of the franchise’s most popular characters — explosive in temperament and in Quirk. His sweat is nitroglycerine-like, ignited at his palms to produce concussive blasts. Name his Quirk (which is also the official Quirk name).
ADetonation BHellflame CExplosion DCombustion
✓ Correct! Explosion. Bakugo can secrete a nitroglycerine-like sweat from his palms and ignite it — the harder he’s sweating, the bigger the boom. His U.A. Sports Festival hero costume includes the iconic grenade-shaped gauntlets that store and release the sweat for his “Howitzer Impact” ultimate move. After much fan voting and his own multiple rejections of cute hero-name suggestions, his final hero name is Dynamight, the God of Explosive Destruction.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Explosion. Hellflame is Endeavor’s Quirk — the #1 hero post-All Might. “Detonation” and “Combustion” aren’t official Quirks. Bakugo’s sweat-into-nitroglycerine palm-ignition power is officially named Explosion.
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05
The League of Villains is led by an unstable, severed-hand-wearing young man with a Quirk called Decay — touch with all five fingers, and matter crumbles to dust. Trained by All For One as the heir to his throne, he eventually inherits the original villain’s Quirk-stealing power. Name him.
ADabi BTomura Shigaraki CStain DKurogiri
✓ Correct! Tomura Shigaraki — born Tenko Shimura, grandson of the seventh One For All wielder Nana Shimura, raised after a tragedy by All For One himself. Decay is one of the franchise’s most terrifying Quirks (it spreads on contact and has no upper limit). After the Paranormal Liberation War arc he absorbs All For One’s power and becomes the series’ final-arc primary antagonist.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Tomura Shigaraki. Dabi is the League’s blue-flame user (and a Todoroki family secret). Stain is the “Hero Killer” ideologue who inspires the League. Kurogiri is the misty warp-gate butler. Shigaraki is the League’s leader, identifiable by the array of severed hands he wears as a self-soothing fashion choice.
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06
All Might is the world’s top hero and the eighth holder of One For All before passing it to Deku. In his weakened civilian form — the result of a brutal injury inflicted by All For One years before the series begins — he’s a hollow-cheeked, blood-coughing teacher at U.A. What’s All Might’s civilian name?
AToshinori Yagi BEnji Todoroki CKeigo Takami DDaigoro Banjo
✓ Correct! Toshinori Yagi. The injury that left him with a perpetually-bleeding stomach wound came in his climactic fight against All For One five years before the series begins — the same fight that killed his predecessor and mentor Nana Shimura’s legacy. Toshinori’s gaunt civilian form vs. his bulked-out hero form is among anime’s most distinctive transformation gags. Voiced by Kenta Miyake in Japanese, Christopher Sabat in English.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Toshinori Yagi. Enji Todoroki is Endeavor (Shoto’s father, the new #1 hero after All Might retires). Keigo Takami is the Wing Hero Hawks. Daigoro Banjo is the fifth wielder of One For All. All Might’s civilian self is Toshinori Yagi.
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07
My Hero Academia began serialisation in Weekly Shonen Jump in July 2014, ran for over 10 years and over 430 chapters before concluding in August 2024 — one of the defining shonen titles of the 2010s and 2020s. Name its mangaka, who has openly cited Naruto and Western superhero comics as primary influences.
ATatsuki Fujimoto BGege Akutami CKohei Horikoshi DEiichiro Oda
✓ Correct! Kohei Horikoshi. He’d previously had two short-lived Jump series (Oumagadoki Doubutsuen, Barrage) before pitching MHA, with All Might consciously designed as an Americanised Superman/Bruce Timm pastiche. The series accumulated over 100 million copies in print and ran from July 2014 to August 2024. Horikoshi is also a fervent ghibli/Western-superhero fan; he’s done illustrated tributes to Spider-Man and Batman.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Kohei Horikoshi. Tatsuki Fujimoto created Chainsaw Man and Fire Punch. Gege Akutami created Jujutsu Kaisen. Eiichiro Oda created One Piece. Horikoshi is MHA’s mangaka and was one of Weekly Shonen Jump’s headline creators throughout the 2010s.
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08
The MHA anime adaptation has been a flagship of its production studio since the first season aired in 2016, with seven seasons, four films and a regular slot in the global streaming spotlight. The same studio is behind Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Mob Psycho 100 and Bungo Stray Dogs. Name it.
AMAPPA BStudio Bones CWit Studio DMadhouse
✓ Correct! Studio Bones (officially BONES Inc.) — the Suginami-based studio founded by ex-Sunrise producers in 1998. Bones is one of the most respected action-anime houses, with credits including Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Soul Eater, Eureka Seven, Mob Psycho 100, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door and Bungo Stray Dogs. MHA has been their flagship contemporary IP since 2016.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Studio Bones. MAPPA does Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man and the final Attack on Titan seasons. Wit Studio did the early Attack on Titan seasons (1–3) before MAPPA took over, plus Vinland Saga and Spy x Family. Madhouse did One Punch Man season 1, Death Note and Hunter x Hunter (2011). MHA’s anime is Bones.
REVEAL MY RATING →
U.A. Provisional License · Final Score Your Hero Standing
🧡
/ 8
Symbol of Peace — or still Quirkless?
⤴ PLUS ULTRA AGAIN
Drawing on the dread of ancient rural customs and powerful supernatural entities, Quit Laughing, Shijima creates a suffocating atmosphere, reminiscent of titles like The Summer Hikaru Died, blending the fear of the unknown with deep-ocean creatures as well as top-notch action. The one-shot has several features that will appeal to My Hero Academia fans. Not only do the designs of Azumi and Shijima recall Denki Kaminari and Ochako Uraraka, but the final panel of Quit Laughing, Shijima, parallels an iconic scene from My Hero Academia Chapter #306, which shows Izuku Midoriya standing atop a towering structure, overlooking a dark city.
Besides the art, the main strength of Quit Laughing, Shijima, is the natural way it develops the bond between the protagonists, which makes readers want their relationship to flourish. However, the story also addresses themes found in My Hero Academia, such as a society that merely looks on in the face of injustice, the rejection of those who are different, and the importance of reaching out to those in need, all of which are hallmarks of the shonen hero genre.
My Hero Academia's Creator May Already Be Preparing His Next Anime Hit
Although Quit Laughing, Shijima is a manga of barely 60 pages with a closed story; its concept could lead to a serialization, much like Horikoshi's My Hero one-shot that evolved into My Hero Academia. Certainly, Quit Laughing, Shijima has been well-received, reaching nearly 200,000 views on Manga Plus just two days after its release. The potential of Horikoshi's new project is already evident. In an interview with ComicBook, Bones president Masahiko Minami expressed interest in adapting another work by the creator of My Hero Academia in the future.
“If there is an opportunity, myself and Studio BONES would be very interested in bringing the anime to life” - Masahiko Minami
While there's no information at the time of writing about whether Horikoshi plans to expand the world of Quit Laughing, Shijima, the ending hinted at a grand story centered on various supernatural forces lurking in Japan. However, even if the one-shot was published to gauge public reception, launching a long-running series can be a lengthy process.
About six years elapsed between the publication of the My Hero one-shot and the launch of My Hero Academia, a period during which the author had two other serializations that weren't as successful. Nevertheless, the fact that Horikoshi released a new work on Shonen Jump just two years after concluding My Hero Academia suggests that fans might not have to wait quite as long to see his comeback in full.
Movie(s) My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018), My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (2019), My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission (2021)
TV Show(s) My Hero Academia
Video Game(s) My Hero Academia: Battle for All, My Hero One's Justice, My Hero One's Justice 2
First Film My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018)
Cast Daiki Yamashita, Kenta Miyake, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Ayane Sakura, Yûki Kaji, Aoi Yuki, Kaito Ishikawa, Toshiki Masuda, Marina Inoue, Yoshimasa Hosoya
Character(s) Izuku Midoriya, All Might, Katsuki Bakugo, Ochaco Uraraka, Shoto Todoroki, Tsuyu Asui, Tenya Iida, Eijiro Kirishima, Momo Yaoyorozu, Fumikage Tokoyami
English (US) ·