"Akai Ito" is a cover of one of Kobukuro's lesser known songs from their independent releases.[2] Kobukuro's team wanted to bring focus to the song once again and suggested to the band they have a female vocalist cover it.[2] Upon hearing Kobukuro perform the song at a Warner Music Japan Convention concert, Aragaki fell in love with the song and agreed to cover it.[2] Aragaki's version was subsequently produced by Tokyo Jihen member Seiji Kameda.[2]
The single was released in two formats: a limited edition, which has an illustration cover drawn by Aragaki herself and a standard edition, which comes with a bonus DVD that includes the music video for "Akai Ito" as well as its making of.[3]
"Akai Ito" peaked at #1 on the daily Oricon singles chart and #3 on the weekly chart, selling 34,236 copies in its first week.[4][5] The song debuted at #1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, making it her second consecutive number-one debut on this chart[6] "Akai Ito" was the 15th best selling single for the month of October and ranked #120 on the yearly Oricon singles chart.[7][8]