Inio Asano, a bona fide earthling, was born in Ibaraki, Japan, in 1980. In 2001, his short story "Uchu kara Konnichiwa" (Hello from Outer Space) won the first Sunday GX Rookie Prize. Later, GX published his series Subarashi Sekai, available in English from VIZ Media as What a Wonderful World! His other works include Hikari no Machi (City of Light), Nijigahara Holograph and Umibe no Onna no Ko (A Girl on the Shore), as well as solanin, also available from VIZ Media.