On December 1, 2021, the same day as their extended play The Book 2 release, Yoasobi announced the project Hajimete no, a collaboration between the duo and four Naoki Prize-winning novelists, comprising Rio Shimamoto, Mizuki Tsujimura, Miyuki Miyabe, and Eto Mori, to produce songs based on the authors' stories with theme of "a story to read when you do [something] for the first time". All novels were published as a book on February 16, 2022, titled Hajimete no.[1][2] One of four novels written by Miyabe is Iro Chigai no Trump (色違いのトランプ, Iro Chigai no Toranpu, lit. "Color-different playing cards") with the theme "a story when you first become a suspect".[3] "Seventeen" expresses a 17-year-old girl who bids farewell to the world she lived in and her parents to save the crisis in the parallel world.[4]
In January 2023, Lawson's Machi Café partnered with Yoasobi for customers to offer a special drink called "Yoasobi Honey Caffè Latte"; they would also receive a sleeve with two-dimensional code for listening to the snippet of the duo's then-unreleased song from Hajimete no project, "Seventeen".[5] Two months later, on March 22, Yoasobi announced that the song would be available for download and streaming platforms on March 27.[6] An accompanying music video premiered on the same date as the release, produced by Contrail Co., Ltd and MAPPA, and directed by Masatsugu Nagasoe.[7][8] The song was included on the duo's EPs Hajimete no – EP and The Book 3, released on May 10 and October 4, 2023, respectively.[9][10] The English version appeared on their third English-language EP E-Side 3, released on April 12, 2024.[11]
"Seventeen" debuted at number 32 on the Oricon Combined Singles Chart,[12] and atop the Digital Singles Chart for the issue dated April 10, 2023, with 12,645 downloads, becoming Yoasobi's eleventh number-one since "Shukufuku" (2022).[13] For Billboard Japan, "Seventeen" entered the Japan Hot 100 at number 21 dated April 5, earning 10,737 downloads, peaked at number two on the Download Songs.[14] The song also debuted at number 63 on the Streaming Songs,[15] and ascended to number 36 the following week with 2,847,845 streams, an increase of 130%.[16]
