Nami Sano

Nami Sano (佐野 菜見) was a Japanese manga artist, best known for her series Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto.

Sano was born in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo on 17 April 1987.

She attended Naruo High School for her secondary education.

According to a former classmate, Sano was a quiet student but was skilled in painting, stating that she drew the background for a class play during their school's cultural festival.

She debuted as a manga artist in 2010 with the one-shot Non-Sugar Coffee, which was published in the magazine Fellows!

Her debut series Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto was initially a one-shot published in Fellows! in August 2011, before being serialized in the same magazine, later renamed to Harta, until December 2015.

The series follows a high school student named Sakamoto who has a reputation for being the "coolest" person in the entire student body.

It won the Comic Natalie Grand Prize in 2013 and was nominated for the Manga Taishō in 2014.

In an interview at Anime Expo 2016, Sano revealed that she had wanted to be a manga artist since she was in elementary school and started drawing manga while in high school.

She cited Magical Circle Guru Guru as her inspiration to become a manga artist.

Sano graduated from Kyoto Seika University under a cartooning course.

Sano died of cancer on 5 August 2023 at age 36; a funeral was held on 7 and 8 August.

She was diagnosed a month before her death and was in the process of planning a new manga while undergoing treatment.

Her death was made public on 16 August.

The announcement included a passage from her final letter, which stated, "This ended up being a fun life. I am now going to a more free world. Goodbye."

Sano worked as an assistant for Twin Star Exorcists author Yoshiaki Sukeno.

It was also adapted into an anime series in 2016.

Her second manga, Migi & Dali, was serialized in Harta from June 2017 to November 2021.

It has been adapted into an anime series in 2023.