AKRU started reading manga from a young age. In university she majored in anthropology, while also teaching herself how to colour and scan line work on the side. In 2007 her debut, The Underwater Moon, an adaptation of a traditional folk story, won several awards, making her a recognised comic artist.

Despite the incredible success of Scrolls of a Northern City, with the sequel topping the bestseller charts for three weeks, AKRU does not plan to give up self-publishing some of her original works in doujinshi, which she feels give her not only a greater degree of creative freedom, but also because she sees this work as an important way of maintaining a dialogue with her readers.