Ao Yūki is a Japanese manga artist and writer known for creating boys' love and isekai-themed works. Yūki is the author and illustrator of the manga series The Perfect Prince Loves Me, His Rival?! which began serialization on the ComicFesta website on August 1, 2022. This series, published by Suiseisha under their Glanz BL Comics imprint, marked Yūki's first multi-volume work. The story follows a protagonist reincarnated into a fantasy novel as a minor character who inadvertently alters the plot when a prince falls in love with him instead of the heroine. Yūki has described the prince character as someone cool who becomes sweet to the one he loves and incorporated role-playing game leveling concepts into the second volume to illustrate the protagonist's magical development.

In June 2023, an anime adaptation of the manga was announced, which premiered as The Perfect Prince Loves Me, the Side Character?!. The anime, produced by Studio Hōkiboshi and directed by Akikonchi, was broadcast in two versions from March to May 2024: a premium uncensored version for online streaming and a standard version for television. Yūki is credited as the original creator for this adaptation.