Hajimete no (はじめての, lit. "The First Time Of") is a book collected short stories by Japanese novelists Rio Shimamoto, Mizuki Tsujimura, Miyuki Miyabe, and Eto Mori, which collaborated with Japanese duo Yoasobi to produce and perform the songs based on the novelists' stories under the theme "a story to read when you do [something] for the first time".[1] The book was first announced on December 1, 2021, and published by Surinsha on February 16, 2022.[2]
It consists of four stories—Shimamoto's Watashi Dake no Shoyūsha, Tsujimura's Yūrei, Miyabe's Iro Chigai no Trump, and Mori's Hikari no Tane.[3] These were accompanied by each song by Yoasobi: "Mr.", "Umi no Manimani", "Seventeen", and "Suki da", respectively. All songs are featured on the book's companion EP Hajimete no – EP, released on May 10, 2023.[4] The Taiwanese edition was published on July 10, 2023, by Crown Publishing.[5]
Contents
Watashi Dake no Shoyūsha (私だけの所有者, "My only owner"; a story when you first fall in love) – Rio Shimamoto; base of "Mr.": What happening between "Boku" and their owner? "Boku" was protected by a facility in a certain country, and started writing letters to their "Sensei", Mr. Naruse.[6]
Yūrei (ユーレイ, "Ghost"; a story when you first run away from home) – Mizuki Tsujimura; base of "Umi no Manimani": After running away from home, I got off at a seaside train station, and suddenly, a mysterious girl, who holds a bouquet, called out to me in the beach at night.[7]
Iro Chigai no Trump (色違いのトランプ, "Color-different playing cards"; a story when you first become a suspect) – Miyuki Miyabe; base of "Seventeen": Natsuho, Sōichi's beloved daughter, was arrested on suspicion of being involved in a terrorist attack that occurred in a parallel world. To save Natsuho, Sōichi goes alone to another "mirror world".[8]
Hikari no Tane (ヒカリノタネ, "Seeds of light"; a story when you first confess) – Eto Mori; base of "Suki da": Yuma, a high school girl who is irresistibly fond of her childhood friend Shiita, tries to erase her past confessions to secure her fourth confession.[9]
Reception
Tomonori Shiba from Real Sound praised Hajimete no for the excitement conveyed by the work, the fun of the troupes, and the tricks. He also was sure that "many young readers will consider this work their 'first book,'" because of "a wide frontage that even teens can easily get into."[10]Hajimete no debuted at number eight on the Oricon weekly Books Chart dated February 28, 2022, selling 13,379 copies in its first week.[11]
Adaptation and sequel
Room NB Co. Ltd adapted Hajimete no into a readers theater, performed at Yomiuri Ōtemachi Hall between January 7 and 9, 2023,[12] and at Theater 1010 from January 6 to 8, 2024.[13] Starting in 2022, Yoasobi, four authors, Suirinsha, and creative writing social media Monogatary.com carried out the sequel project Hajimete no Bungei-bu to discover new novelists.[14] Kozumu Ayane, Rei Hachikawa, Naruse Hazuki, and Yoa Mabyō were selected.[15]
On March 27, 2023, the same day as the release of "Seventeen", Yoasobi announced an EP, collected all tracks based on Hajimete no's short stories, titled Hajimete no – EP (はじめての - EP). It was released on May 10, 2023, through Sony Music Entertainment Japan.[16] Containing all four tracks from the project, the limited physical EP came in five versions: four are Mini CD with different short story and cover, and a complete edition contains 12 cm CD and Blu-ray including the duo's selected live performances from Rock in Japan Festival, and Sweet Love Shower in 2022.[17]
To promote the EP, fan art goods inspired by each track from Hajimete no – EP's music videos were sold at MashRoom Cafe online store.[18] Yoasobi, alongside all novelists who wrote the based stories, appeared on the special program NHK Music Special, titled NHK Music Special Yoasobi: Shōsetsu o Ongaku ni Suru Mahō (小説を音楽にする魔法, lit. "Magic of novel into music"), on May 11, to talk about behind-the-scenes of the project, and give debut televised performances of all tracks from the EP.[19] Commercially, the EP peaked at number nine on the Oricon Singles Chart,[20] and sold 11,846 copies as of May.[21]
