Nanao Akita is a young Japanese woman who appears in the Terraformars series. She stands 168 centimeters tall and has a slender build, with long black hair, black eyes, and a youthful, gentle face. Despite a difficult upbringing marked by abuse from her stepfather, she maintains a surprisingly warm and sweet temperament, though she has a habit of speaking loudly and confidently, a trait that can give an impression of bravado. She joined the Bugs Project, the second manned expedition to Mars, primarily to repay the debts left behind by her stepfather, a motivation that underscores her sense of responsibility and willingness to take on dangerous missions for the sake of others.

Nanao underwent the M.O. (Mosaic Organ) operation, receiving genetic modifications based on moths, which grant her abilities derived from those insects. However, her time on Mars is tragically brief. She is a childhood friend of Shokichi Komachi, and the two share a close bond. Upon landing on Mars, she and Shokichi encounter one of the mutated cockroaches, which she mistakes for an alien and attempts to communicate with. The creature immediately kills her by breaking her neck, and she dies on the spot. Her sudden death serves as a pivotal moment in the story, deeply affecting Shokichi and motivating him to undergo the M.O. operation himself and eventually become the leader of the Japanese squad of the Annex I expedition. Beyond her relationship with Shokichi, she does not form significant connections with other characters, as her role in the narrative is limited to the early events of the Bugs 2 arc. Her personality is a mix of outward boldness and inner sweetness, and she is noted for a practical skill in cooking with leftovers. Her dislike of moths is ironic given her own surgical base. Her development is minimal because of her early demise, but her background and death are essential to the backstory and character arc of Shokichi Komachi, making her a key catalyst in the series rather than a long-term participant.