Hikaru Utada to release a limited edition First Love / Hatsukoi double vinyl

Hikaru Utada shot in portrait, with their head tilted, and their hair falling into their face.

If you are a collector who bought the First Love and Hatsukoi vinyls which were re-released earlier this year, then be prepared to get upset and open up your fucking purses again, because Hikaru Utada is releasing a double vinyl of First Love and Hatsukoi on December 9.

To help differentiate this release from the original First Love , the album cover will feature a previously unused / unreleased photo from the First Love shoot. Every damn time we think we’ve seen every shot from this shoot, another one surfaces.

The cover for Hikaru Utada’s First Love / Hatsukoi double vinyl. Featuring a portrait shot of Hikaru Utada, with their head tilted, and their hair falling into their face.

I woulda liked the design to have incorporated SOMETHING from Hatsukoi. But some fans may argue the thing that ties this to Hatsukoi is Hikaru’s hair. Me. I am ‘some fans’. Well, at least how it looks from the front. Because Hikaru had that side shaved foolishness going on for Hatsukoi, which you couldn’t see from the album cover.

For those of you who are wondering ‘What is the point in this release?’. Money. Teruzane looks out for his child and makes sure yen stays flowing into that bank account. But the marketing reason is Netflix’s Japanese drama First Love; a series inspired by Hikaru Utada’s song of the same title, which releases in November.

When I first posted about this show mere days ago, I said that I didn’t think there would be an official new version of the song, and that we’d just get re-arranged instrumental versions of the song (which we may still get). But it turns out the show will feature a new version of “First Love” after all. As I post this, there is no information on what this new mix features or what makes it different to the original.

I shoulda known Teruzane wouldn’t let a whole Netflix series inspired by his daughter’s songs go out, without there being SOME form of new release. Teruzane is ‘bout that business.

“First Love” won’t be getting just one new version though, it will be getting two. Well, kind of. “First Love (2022 Mix)” and “First Love (Remastered)” will be released digitally across all streaming services. And Apple Music will get exclusive Dolby Atmos versions of “First Love (2022 Mix)” and “Hatsukoi”, which were mixed by Steve Fitzmaurice. Steve is notable for being a part of Hikaru’s inner circle of music talent ever since their move to London. Steve has mixed all three of Hikaru Utada’s last albums, in addition to engineering, recording and providing additional programming for each of them. For those of you who watched Live Sessions from Air Studios, he’s the guy in the hat you would occasionally see behind the mixing console, looking out onto the session itself.

The First Love / Hatsukoi vinyl releases on December 9, and pre-orders are already open at Amazon Japan, Tsutaya, and all the major online music retailers.