Mayu graduated from a Tokyo school and began her work as a mangaka. Her debut work, Primal Orange earned her a prize in October 2000, when she was only 18, for an original publication that helped gain her popularity. It wasn't long after that, that she was hired for Shueisha's monthly phonebook manga, Ribon although she first worked as an assistant there.
When Mayu's first two actual serializations were done it wasn't that popular, and it wasn't until Nagatacho Strawberry that her work became known. During her work on Peter Pan Syndrome it was rumoured that she had quit Ribon since the series fell short of expectation and ended abruptly -- but luckily to fans surprise at the beginning of 2006 Rockin' * Heaven was released. Sakai has formerly worked as an assistant for OBANA Miho.