ONE ~To the Radiant Season~ (or One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e) is a 1998 visual novel, by Tactics, a branch of the Visual Arts company Nexton. The makers of ONE ~To the Radiant Season~ would later form Key/Visual Arts and make Kanon; they would, however, take a lot of inspiration from ONE, especially character design. Take a look at the picture and then look at Ayu from Kanon.
ONE tells the story of Kohei Orihara, a Japanese high school student who suddenly finds his ordinary, everyday life pushed to the brink of collapse by the seemingly inexplorable expansion of an inner reality which threatens to replace his own. In the long and cold winter before the Radiant Season, he will encounter new friends, rediscover old promises, witness ties forged and broken, and learn of the things which everyone must leave behind.
Kohei suspects that at some point his current life will change while living a peaceful daily routine. His parents died when he was very young, and after his younger sister dies, he begins to seclude himself in the Eternal World, a world within his mind. The game's recurring theme is a focus on the Eternal World, an alternate space that Kohei created out of his want for a place in which nothing ever changes. He starts receding into this world about a week before disappearing, during which every one (including the girl he loves) forgets about him, and he falls into the Eternal World completely, making it seem as if he never existed in the real world. His only hope of returning is to form a strong bond with someone prior to leaving, and to follow his guide back to the real world.
The characters from ONE also appear as playable characters in the fighting game Eternal Fighter Zero by Twilight Frontier. EFZ is notorious for featuring Unknown as a powerful Sub-Boss, who was toned down for her playable version, as well as creating Doppel Nanase (A Nanase clone) as an Original Generation.
A remake of the visual novel was released on December 2023 for the Nintendo Switch and PC, with an English release by Shiravune.
The game One Kagayaku Kisetsu E provides examples of:
- Anime of the Game: ONE ~True stories~ and the all-ages OVA.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: The English translation of the remake is overall very passable, but still has some amusing gaffes such as one of Kohei's teachers (which are translated as "professor") being referred to as a "she" when clearly having a male voice and Kohei's classmate Minaminote being named properly when Kohei is speaking to him but named as "South" when he's the one speaking.
- Downer Ending: If you don't end up getting one of the girls.
- Earn Your Happy Ending
- Easy Amnesia: As you near the end of the game, everyone who once knew Kohei slowly starts forgetting him until only the girl you chose remembers him (or alternatively, no one, if you didn't manage to get on a route) at which point he disappears.
- Explicit Content: Well, it is an eroge.
- I Will Wait for You:
- After Kohei disappears, but the game is told from the chosen girl's point of view until he comes back a year later.
- Akane is also waiting for her childhood friend to return.
- The Ghost:
- Kohei's aunt and guardian, Yukiko, never makes any direct appearances, but she does help out during Akane's route and interacts with Kohei in Misaki and Mio's routes.
- The childhood friend that Akane waits for in the rain at the vacant lot. He suffered the same fate as Kohei in the bad ending, but Akane forced herself to never forget him.
- Guide Dang It!: To get on Nagamori's route you have to be a complete Jerkass to her.
- Mythology Gag: If you look in the shopping district in ONE, you can see a sign that says rorikon (as in lolicon). Key would go on to make Kanon, which also has a "lolicon" shop in the shopping district.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Toward the end, everyone forgets only Kohei; no other memories are lost, the ones involving Kohei are appended to exclude him.
- This also happened to the friend Akane was waiting for and Hikami (where only Kohei remembers him).
- Late for School: Kohei and Nagamori have to sprint to class regularly to avoid being late because of Kohei's antics when getting up. Nagamori and Kohei running to school is also the first CG the player sees in-game.
- In Nanase's route, she takes over Nagamori's role as his personal alarm clock and the goal is to be on time within three days.
- Optional Sexual Encounter: Mio's H-scene can be skipped for those who actively dislike lolicon. Some other routes allow you to skip the H-scenes as well.
- Parental Substitute:
- Kohei's aunt takes care of him even though she is rarely home.
- Kohei also says he feels like a parent during Shiina's route.
- Pinky Swear:
- Mio and Kohei have one of these as kids.
- Nagamori and Kohei also have one near the end of her route.
- Played for Laughs: Nanase's H-scene, while being very important to the plot is Played for Laughs as opposed to drama.
- Sitting on the Roof: The roof is a plot-important location for a few characters, the most prominent being Misaki.
- Token Mini-Moe: Mio and Shiina.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Akane's waffles, Kohei's spicy ramen, Misaki's curry and Shiina's hamburgers.
- Utsuge
- Verbal Tic: a couple actually.
- Shiina: Myuu~ and Unyu~
- Mio: ...~
- Victorious Childhood Friend: If you take Nagamori's or Mio's routes.
