text: one : kagayaku kisetsu e one : kagayaku kisetsu e ( one ～ 輝く季節へ ～ , lit . one ~ to the radiant season ~ ) is a japanese adult visual novel , developed by tactics , a brand of nexton , released on may 29 , 1998 playable on windows pcs . the erotic content was later removed when the game was ported to the playstation . the story follows the life of kōhei orihara , a high school student who has fun spending time with several girls about his age , while at the same time he is gradually being drawn into a mystical alternate space known as the eternal world . the gameplay in one follows a branching plot line which offers pre - determined scenarios with courses of interaction , and focuses on the appeal of the six female main characters by the player character . the game ranked several times in the national top 50 for best - selling pc games sold in japan . a sequel loosely based on one titled one2 : eien no yakusoku was produced by baseson , another brand under nexton , and was released in april 2002 . much of the staff that created the game later became the founding members of the visual novel brand key . kss produced a four - episode all ages original video animation ( ova ) series between 2001 and 2002 titled one : kagayaku kisetsu e . cherry lips produced a three - episode adult ova series between 2003 and 2004 titled one : true stories . one : true stories was later licensed for english language distribution by media blasters . comic anthologies and four novels were also published , as were audio dramas . gameplay one is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of kōhei orihara . much of its gameplay is spent on reading the story 's narrative and dialogue . one follows a branching plot line with multiple endings , and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game , the plot will progress in a specific direction . there are six main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience , one for each of the heroines in the story . throughout gameplay , the player is given multiple options to choose from , and text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made . to view all plot lines in their entirety , the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices to further the plot to an alternate direction . in the adult versions of the game , there are scenes with sexual cgs depicting kōhei and a given heroine having sex . later , ports of the game were released without the erotic content . plot setting the main part one 's story takes place at a japanese high school , though little is shown except for kōhei 's classroom , the cafeteria , and a little of the surrounding area . the main school building is three - stories , and the roof is accessible , albeit with a sign on the roof 's access door saying " no entry " , but the door is never locked regardless . adjacent to the main building is another which houses club rooms . the school borders a forest on one side with a chain link fence . beyond the forest is a park with a fountain and a flight of stairs on a hill . other than the school , the shopping district in town and the usual path kōhei takes to school are shown , but otherwise the only other place depicted is kōhei 's two - story house . main characters kōhei orihara is a young man in high school living a normal life . he tends to tease the girls he knows , especially his childhood friend mizuka nagamori , but deep down he is generally nice to girls . mizuka usually takes good care of him , and worries about kōhei , wondering if he could suddenly get a girlfriend . she is constantly sighing , being made to go along with kōhei 's meaningless jokes . kōhei meets a transfer student named rumi nanase early in the story whose goal is to become a " true maiden " and to that end , she behaves toward those around her , but she shows her true character just to kōhei , who leaves a terrible first impression . kōhei gets to know a quiet classmate named akane satomura who does not readily open her heart up to those around her , and refuses any help kōhei may offer . kōhei also meets a blind upperclassman named misaki kawana who has a sociable personality where she can be unreserved with anyone . a mute underclassman girl named mio kouzuki meets kōhei one day and uses a sketchbook to carry on written conversations . she belongs to the drama club , and despite not being able to speak , can still show emotion through various abundant expressions . the last girl kōhei gets to know is a childish junior high school student named mayu shiina who refuses to go to school . her one and only friend she could trust in life , a ferret named myū , dies shortly before she meets kōhei and the other main characters . story the story revolves around kōhei orihara , the main protagonist . his father died when he was very young , followed by his younger sister misao and finally his mother . deeply depressed , he goes to live with his aunt yukiko , his mother 's younger sister , about ten years before one 's story begins on november 30 , 1998 . after he meets mizuka nagamori as a child , kōhei begins to himself in the eternal world , a world within his mind . the game 's main recurring motif is a focus on the eternal world , a mystical alternate space which is never clearly explained , and the details of which are unknown . shun hikami 's remarks in the original game are possible clues about the eternal world . the eternal world is a place similar to the afterlife where a person 's " other self " awaits . anyone can access it , though it is only accessible once one has lost his or her grounding in the real world . it may be necessary to form a pledge with someone in the real world as a guide to the eternal world , but one 's memories surrounding the pledge become vague . a grace period can be granted between when the pledge is made and when someone goes to the eternal world . once the process has started , nothing can prevent someone from going to the eternal world , and returning to the real world is difficult . someone about to leave to the eternal world starts to be forgotten approximately one week before going , and the amount of time before someone forgets differs based on how much someone thinks about the person leaving . however , he or she is remembered the moment that person returns . if a strong emotional bond is established in the real world before leaving , a person in the eternal world can be returned after approximately one year . kōhei is living a normal life in high school with mizuka , and gets to know five other girls throughout the story who he helps with their various personal problems . while kōhei likes to joke and tease these girls , deep down he is nice to girls and genuinely wants to help them . in the story , kōhei is able to form intimate relationships with the six heroines : mizuka nagamori , rumi nanase , misaki kawana , mio kouzuki , mayu shiina , and akane satomura . while a given relationship will start out well , before long those around him start to forget him as he begins to retreat further into the eternal world . if kōhei forms a strong bond with one of the girls , she alone remembers him even after he leaves to the eternal world . this ensures his eventual return one year later when he and the girl reunite . development and release one : kagayaku kisetsu e is tactics ' third title , after moon and dōsei . one 's production was headed by yet11 , the pseudonym of tsutomu yoshizawa , who also contributed to the music in the game . planning was led by jun maeda , who worked on the scenario with fellow writer naoki hisaya . maeda wrote the scenarios for mizuka , rumi and mayu , while hisaya wrote the routes for misaki , mio and akane . art direction was done by itaru hinoue who also worked on the computer graphics along with miracle mikipon and shinory . in addition to yet11 , the soundtrack was composed by shinji orito , odiakes , m.s. and ishisan . one was first released on may 29 , 1998 in regular and limited edition versions playable on windows pcs in cd - rom format ; the limited edition included the game 's first original soundtrack . both the limited and regular editions of the original game contained no voice acting . on april 1 , 1999 , kid released an all ages version in regular and limited editions playable on the playstation under the title kagayaku kisetsu e ; the ps version contained full - voice acting . on september 14 , 2000 , ai system released one : kagayaku kisetsu e memorial selection , which was essentially the original game , though the price was cheaper at a little less than half the original price . on january 1 , 2003 , a full voice version of the windows game was released by nexton . kōhei was not voiced in any of the versions . on february 9 , 2007 , one was released playable on foma cell phones via a java program by ntt docomo . a second mobile release playable on au mobile phones was released on march 1 , 2007 by kddi . a third mobile release , also playable on foma cell phones , was released by softbank mobile on july 2 , 2007 . the last release by nexton was on june 1 , 2007 as a windows vista compatible edition for the pc . released the full - voice , vista - compatible edition of one as a downloadable version on february 26 , 2010 . the version for the playstation , and the mobile versions released by kddi and softbank mobile did not contain adult material . a promotional video for the game is still available for download at tactics ' one website . related media printed media four adult novels based on the series , written by midori tateyama , were published by movic between august 1998 and april 2000 . each volume focused on one of the main heroines in the story ; volumes one through four focused on mizuka , akane , misaki , and rumi , respectively . a 143 - page official fan book , which focused on moon and one , was released by the publisher compass in october 1998 , titled tactics moon & one : kagayaku kisetsu e creation image collection . aspect released a 95 - page official fan book for the playstation version of one in october 1999 . compass also released a manga anthology called tactics anthology comic one : kagayaku kisetsu e chapter in may 1999 . movic released a two - volume manga anthology called one : kagayaku kisetsu e comic anthology between october and december 1999 . ohzora released five volumes of manga anthologies : three in one series , and the last two as stand - alone volumes . the three - volume series is titled one : kagayaku kisetsu e anthology comics and were released between may 2002 and february 2003 . the first stand - alone volume called one : kagayaku kisetsu e dōjin selection was released in september 2003 , and the second stand - alone volume titled hidamari one : kagayaku kisetsu e was released in january 2004 . anime one was adapted twice into original video animation ( ova ) series . the first was an all ages ova titled one : kagayaku kisetsu e produced by kss ; four dvd volumes were released in japan between august 10 , 2001 and may 24 , 2002 . the all ages ova is loosely based on the original one visual novel and is drawn with a different setting . the second series , produced by cherry lips , was an adult ova under the title one : true stories . three dvd volumes containing a single episode each were released between november 21 , 2003 and may 28 , 2004 . one : true stories was later licensed for english distribution by media blasters and the three episodes were released in a single volume on august 16 , 2005 . music and audio cds the visual novel 's one main piece of theme music is the ending theme " kagayaku kisetsu e " ( 輝く季節へ ) composed by shinji orito . five of the heroines have background music leitmotifs , excluding mayu shiina . mizuka nagamori 's theme is " no neko " ( , eight cats ) ; rumi nanase 's theme is " otome kibō " ( , maiden 's wish ) ; misaki kawana 's theme is " wa - sama " ( , appearance ) ; mio kouzuki 's theme is " ni egao " ( , innocent smile ) ; lastly , akane satomura 's theme is " niji o mita " ( , path of a rainbow sighting ) . the first original soundtrack for the game was released on december 6 , 1998 , and a second followed on september 24 , 1999 as a piano arrange album . a remix album titled sea roars came bundled with the full voice windows edition of the game released on january 1 , 2003 . three drama cds based on the original game were released by movic between november 6 , 1999 and january 30 , 2000 . two drama cds based on the all ages ova series were released by kss between november 2001 and july 2002 . a soundtrack for the all ages ova series titled one : kagayaku kisetsu e music from the animation ( also known as one : kagayaku kisetsu e vocal mini album ) was released on august 10 , 2001 by kss . an original soundtrack for one : true stories was released by / hobirecords on november 21 , 2003 . reception according to a national ranking of how well bishōjo games sold nationally in japan , the one : kagayaku kisetsu e memorial selection windows release ranked in on seven separate occasions . the game premiered at number six in the rankings during the first two weeks of september 2000 . during the first two weeks of january 2001 , the memorial selection ranked in at number 30 , and a month later during the first two weeks of february 2001 , ranked in at number 38 . memorial selection ranked in again at 41 between the end of february and march 2001 , and the following two weeks ranked in at 32 . memorial selection ranked on the list again between may 7 – 20 , 2001 , ranking in at 47 , and then for a final time during the first two weeks of july 2001 , ranking in at 37 . the one full - voice edition for windows premiered at number 12 out of 50 in the ranking , and ranked the following two weeks at 40 . in the month that followed , the one full voice edition ranked first in 60th place , and then again in the following ranking at 44 . the all ages ova series was given a negative review by carlos ross of them anime reviews . despite looking " kinda cute " , he criticized the characters as having " no personality beyond the standard cliches of [ a ] dating simulation . " however , ross did praise the art style , commenting that it was " rather nice , being in traditional analog style rather than cg . " the one : true stories adult ova series was reviewed at mania.com where the reviewer remarked , " one : true stories is the perfect kind of entry level or couples type of show that focuses just as much on the story and emotions of the characters as the sex , if not more so . " the characters were found to be " appealing " , and the story is described as a " fantasy but it 's a nice fantasy . " legacy after the release of one : kagayaku kisetsu e , the game 's producer yet11 was the only staff member who worked on the game who was later credited for future titles produced by tactics , such as tactics ' next visual novel suzu ga utau hi in 1999 . the rest of the main production staff for one , along with its predecessor moon , were later credited with the creation of the visual novel kanon under the brand name key attached to visualart 's . a sequel loosely based on the original one visual novel titled one2 : eien no yakusoku ( one2 ～ ～ , lit . one2 ~ the eternal promise ~ ) was produced by the visual novel studio baseson , another brand under nexton . one2 was released first on april 26 , 2002 , and then again on april 25 , 2003 with added voice acting , scenario , cgs and music . one2 used the concept of the eternal world established in one as a major motif as one had done . the eternal world in one2 is better explained than in one , though the two versions of the world differ to a certain extent due to the scenario writers that worked on one not being credited on the production staff of one2 . characters from one have appeared in other media not directly based on the one series . the six heroines from one have appeared in the eternal fighter zero dōjin games by twilight frontier . additionally , rumi nanase can be seen as a background character in several episodes of the kanon anime series by kyoto animation . itaru hinoue , the art director of one , included illustrations from one in her art book white clover : itaru hinoue art works released in 2009 .