It is her fifth single under the label Epic Records Japan and was taken from her seventh Japanese-language studio album Hatsukoi.

The song was released as a digital download on May 30 and was used as a tie-in for the Japanese television drama Hana Nochi Hare - Hanadan Next Season.

[2] In December 2022, "Hatsukoi" was remastered alongside "First Love" in Dolby Atmos.

Following the good reception of the "Forevermore" and "Anata" music video documentaries with M-On, a new one will be exhibited at the channel on June 27, the same day of Hatsukoi album release.

The song topped the Oricon download chart for 2 consecutive weeks, making Hikaru Utada the only female singer to reach the top of the chart 3 times since its beginning.