Miho Karasawa

Karasawa was born in Tokyo on July 15, 1983.^[2] She had an interest in anime music, citing the music careers of voice actors Megumi Hayashibara and Hekiru Shiina as inspirations.^[3] She started her entertainment career as a gravure model,^[4] appearing in magazines, photobooks, and home video releases.^[5] She released a gravure video titled Dolce in 1999.^[6] That same year, she became a member of the limited-time group Nitro, a group consisting of four gravure idols; they released the song "Calling", which was used as the theme song to the film You're Under Arrest: The Movie.^[7]

Karasawa launched a solo music career in 2000, releasing her first single "Anytime, Anywhere".^[2] In 2001, she released the single "Way to Love", the title song of which was used in the television drama Love Revolution; the single peaked at number 10 on the Oricon weekly charts.^[8] She released her first solo album Sparkle in 2002.^[9] She would continue to perform for televisions throughout the decade, including a remixed version of "Way to Love" in 2009.^[2] She also became active as a stage actress, appearing in plays such as a production of Miss Saigon.^[4] In 2011, she joined the agency Scoop Music and began writing lyrics for other musicians.^[3]

In 2014, Karasawa announced that she would be leaving Horipro, the agency she had been with since her debut.^[4] Later that year, she began activities as an anison artist under the music label Lantis,^[10] using the stage name True for anime-related activities.^[3][11] In an interview, she stated that the name was inspired by a Lantis producer, who said that being in Lantis allowed her to express who she truly was.^[12] It was also inspired by her belief that her writing songs for anime represented her "true" self, given her long-time love for anime.^[13] Her first anime song was "Unisonia", which was used as the opening theme to the television series Buddy Complex.^[14] Her next anime song was "Hajimari no Tsubasa" (はじまりの翼), which was used as the opening theme to the original video animation Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet: Far Beyond The Voyage.^[15] Joy Heart, her first album under the name True, was released in December 23, 2015.^[16]

In 2015, Karasawa released the song "Dream Solister", which was used as the opening theme to the anime television series Sound! Euphonium.^[17][18][19] She would continue performing songs for the series, with the 2016 song "Soundscape" used as the second season's opening theme,^[20] and the 2024 song "ReCoda" used as the third season's opening theme.^[21]

In 2018, Karasawa released the single "Sincerely", the title song being used as the opening theme to the anime series Violet Evergarden.^[22] She also released the single "Another colony", the title song being used as the ending theme to the anime series That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.^[23] She would later perform the song "Storyteller", which was used as the opening theme for the series' second season in 2021.^[24] In April 2024, she left Scoop Music to join Cat Entertainment.^[25] She released a compilation album titled True the Best in February 2025.^[26]

In her early career, Karasawa hired her own musicians and rehearsal space to produce her own recordings.^[27]

Karasawa uses a variety of methods during her songwriting, including singing into her iPhone, recording notes on her pc, and drawing inspiration from photos and illustrations.^[27] Karasawa states that she often creates songs for herself, but will offer them to other artists if she feels their styles will create better results.^[27]