Chica Umino is the pen name of a pseudonymous Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and character designer. Born on August 30, 1966 in Tokyo, she aspired to work in character design and manga from a young age and published her first work while in high school. After graduating from the Tokyo Metropolitan College of Industrial Technology, she worked at a design firm before establishing her career in manga.

Umino made her professional manga debut with the series Honey and Clover, which began serialization in Takarajimasha's Cutie Comic magazine in 2000. The series later moved to Shueisha's Young You and then to Chorus magazine, where it concluded in July 2006 with 64 chapters. Honey and Clover follows a group of art college students navigating friendship, unrequited love, and the transition into adulthood. For this work, Umino received the 27th Kodansha Manga Award in 2003. The series was adapted into an anime produced by J.C.Staff, as well as a live-action film and a television drama.

Her subsequent and ongoing major work is March Comes in like a Lion, which began serialization in Hakusensha's seinen magazine Young Animal on July 13, 2007. The story centers on Rei Kiriyama, a teenage professional shogi player living alone in Tokyo, and his relationships with three sisters who provide him with a surrogate family. Umino had no prior experience with shogi, so the games depicted in the manga were drawn with the assistance of a professional supervisor. The idea for the series came from her editor, who suggested she write about either shogi or boxing. March Comes in like a Lion received the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category in 2011 and has been adapted into an anime by Shaft.

Beyond her manga, Umino has contributed to the anime industry as a character designer. In 2009, she provided the original character designs for Eden of the East, a television anime series directed by Kenji Kamiyama. She has also illustrated cover artwork for a republished edition of Anne of Green Gables in 2011 and has created illustrations for novels including the Glass Heart series.

Umino has cited Western childrens literature, including Anne of Green Gables, as a notable influence on her work, particularly in her portrayal of unconventional family structures. She has also named manga artists Moto Hagio and Fusako Kuramochi as inspirations, and she has stated that she self-taught artistic techniques from Hagios work. In 2013, Umino was hospitalized for surgery and medical treatment, which caused a temporary suspension of her activities. Her work is recognized for its nuanced emotional depth, character interiority, and sensitive depictions of loneliness, healing, and human connection.