Akira Hiyoshimaru is a Japanese manga artist and original creator, best known for writing and illustrating the romantic comedy series First Love Monster. Hiyoshimaru is a female creator originally from Nagoya, Japan. Her professional career as a manga artist began in the late 2000s, with some of her earliest known credits including illustration work for novels such as Imouto ga Ippai: Fruit Basket in 2005 and Houkago Träumerei in 2008. She also created the original manga stories Kamisama Onegai! in 2008 and Koi♥Mane in 2010. During this period, she frequently worked as a illustrator for manga adaptations of the Book Girl (Bungaku Shoujo) novel series, contributing to titles such as Bungaku Shoujo to Oishii Recipe in 2008 and Bungaku Shoujo to Koisuru Poet in 2010. She also provided the artwork for the manga Messiah in 2011.

Hiyoshimaru is most recognized as the sole creator of First Love Monster (Hatsukoi Monster). The manga was first serialized in Kodanshas shoujo magazine Aria beginning on January 28, 2013. The series concluded its run in Aria on November 28, 2016, and subsequently resumed publication on the Pixiv Comics platform starting in March 2017. The story follows Kaho Nikaido, a high school girl who falls in love with Kanade Takahashi, a handsome older boy who turns out to be a fifth-grader, leading to a series of comedic situations involving his eccentric wealthy family and classmates. The series was commercially successful enough to be licensed for English publication by Yen Press.

The commercial success of the manga led to an anime television adaptation. The anime, also titled First Love Monster, was produced by Studio Deen and directed by Takayuki Inagaki. It aired in Japan from July to September 2016. For this production, Hiyoshimaru is officially credited as the original creator. The anime adaptation brought her work to a broader international audience.

Hiyoshimarus artistic identity is strongly tied to shoujo manga aesthetics and absurdist romantic comedy. First Love Monster plays with typical shoujo conventions by juxtaposing a standard romantic premise with the bizarre reality of a love interest who is a child. This central gag, combined with exaggerated character reactions and situations, defines her most famous work. While she has an extensive history as an illustrator for other authors stories, First Love Monster represents her most significant original contribution as a writer and artist. Her career illustrates a common path in the manga industry, moving from illustrating novel and franchise adaptations to creating a successful original serialization that achieved multimedia adaptation.