Nami Sano was a Japanese manga artist born on April 17, 1987, in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture. She expressed a desire to become a manga artist from elementary school and began drawing manga in high school. Sano graduated from Kyoto Seika University under its cartooning course and later worked as an assistant to Yoshiaki Sukeno, the author of Twin Star Exorcists. Her professional debut came in 2010 with the one-shot Non-Sugar Coffee, published in the magazine Fellows!.

Sano is best known as the creator of two manga series that were adapted into popular anime television series. Her first major work was Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto. Initially published as a one-shot in Fellows! in August 2011, it was later serialized in the same magazine, which was subsequently renamed Harta, from April 2012 to December 2015. The series is a comedy centered on a high school student named Sakamoto, whose every action is impossibly cool and flawless. The manga won the Comic Natalie Grand Prize in 2013 and was nominated for the Manga Taishō in 2014. It was adapted into an anime series by Studio Deen that premiered in April 2016.

Following the conclusion of her first series, Sano created Migi & Dali, which was serialized in Harta from July 2017 to November 2021 and collected in seven volumes. The story follows orphaned twins, Migi and Dali, who secretly pose as a single boy named Hitori after being adopted by an elderly couple, as they investigate the mystery of their mother's death. This work was adapted into an anime television series by Geek Toys and CompTown, which aired from October to December 2023. Sano completed her supervision of the anime adaptation before her death.

Sano's creative work is noted for its unique style that blends absurdist, comedic premises with deeper, more serious undertones. Beneath the surface of her often humorous narratives, her stories explore themes such as identity, trauma, and social issues like bullying and discrimination. She cited the manga Magical Circle Guru Guru as a primary inspiration for becoming an artist.

Nami Sano passed away on August 5, 2023, at the age of 36 due to cancer. She had been diagnosed only one month prior and was reportedly planning a new manga while undergoing treatment. A memorial project was established in her honor, including an art exhibition of her works and a collection of previously uncompiled pieces. Her final letter included the statement that her life had been fun and she was going to a more free world. She is remembered as a distinctive and influential voice in manga, with her two major series serving as lasting legacies of her career.