Yuu Minamoto is a Japanese manga artist best known for creating the series Samurai Harem: Asu no Yoichi. Born on December 15, 1982, Minamoto is a female creator who formerly worked as an assistant to manga artist Hekiru Hikawa. Her educational background includes attending a high school where kendo and iai, the art of drawing and wielding actual swords, were mandatory subjects for boys and girls respectively, and she holds a belt in iai. This personal experience with Japanese swordsmanship would later inform her creative work. Minamoto is credited as the writer and illustrator for Samurai Harem: Asu no Yoichi, which was serialized in Akita Shoten's Monthly Shonen Champion magazine from October 2006 to March 2011, spanning fifteen tankobon volumes. The manga, a harem martial arts romantic comedy, was licensed in North America by Tokyopop under the title Samurai Harem: Asu no Yoichi. The series was adapted into a twelve-episode anime television series by the studio AIC, which aired in Japan on TBS from January to March 2009. For the anime adaptation, Minamoto is credited as the original creator and original character designer. Prior to her best-known work, she authored Kanaete Aizen in 2006 and Dog Sutairu in 2008. In April 2011, it was announced that Minamoto would collaborate with Bamboo Blade story creator Masahiro Totsuka on a new series titled Haru Polish, which launched in Monthly Shonen Champion on May 6, 2011. For this series, Minamoto served as the manga creator while Totsuka handled the story. The series was described as a hyper comedy centered on a high school girl and the practice of iai.