User:Juhachi/One

The One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e visual novel features a cast of characters created by Naoki Hisaya and Jun Maeda, and illustrated by Itaru Hinoue. 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.

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. 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 maidenly toward those around her, but she shows her true character just to Kōhei who leaves a terrible first impression. Kōhei gets to know a generally quite classmate named Akane Satomura who does not really open her heart up to those around her, and any time Kōhei tries to do something for her, she replies, "no".

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 who 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 girl in junior high school named Mayu Shiina who refuses to go to school. Her one and only friend she could trust in life, a ferret named Myū, dies around when she meets Kōhei and the other main characters.

Main characters

Kōhei Orihara (折原 浩平, Orihara Kōhei)

Voiced by: Kenji Nojima (drama CD), Kishō Taniyama (all-ages OVA), Sayuri Yoshida (young Kōhei in the all-ages OVA)

Kōhei is a young man in his second-year in high school and the story's main protagonist. He lost his parents when he was very young, and is living at his aunt's house. He is a member of the light music club, but does not participate in club activities. He is always teasing his childhood friend, Mizuka Nagamori, and the new transfer student, Rumi Nanase, but deep down he is nice to girls. After his younger sister dies, he starts visiting the Eternal World, a mystical world parallel to the real world which is a major focus in the story. As time progresses, the people around him begin to slowly forget that he exists, and he starts trying to find someone to save his existence. He begins to confuse his childhood memories of his sister and Mizuka.

Mizuka Nagamori (長森 瑞佳, Nagamori Mizuka)

Voiced by: Mayumi Iizuka (PS), Yūko Minaguchi (drama CD), Ayako Kawasumi (all-ages OVA), Ayaka Kimura (PC full-voice)

Mizuka is Kōhei's classmate and childhood friend. She is constantly sighing, being made to go along with Kōhei's meaningless jokes. She takes unusually good care of him such as going to his house every morning to wake him up. For clubs, she helps around the orchestra club and plays the cello. She likes milk so much that she can even drink it while eating rice. Mizuka is a cat-lover and has several of them at her house. She tends to add "da yo" and "mon" at the end of her sentences and at one point of the story she gets called a "Dayomonian", but only once. She worries about Kōhei, wondering if he could suddenly get a girlfriend. Later, there is a motif where her childhood self becomes a guide for the main character in the Eternal World.

Rumi Nanase (七瀬 留美, Nanase Rumi)

Voiced by: Chisa Yokoyama (PS), Makiko Ōmoto (drama CD), Haruhi Terada (all-ages OVA), Chizuru Kusaka (PC full-voice)

Rumi is a girl who transferred into Kōhei's school. She used to be in the kendo club but had to quit after hip complications. Her goal is to become a "true maiden" and to that end, she behaves maidenly toward those around her, but she shows her true character just to Kōhei who leaves a terrible first impression. She does not belong to any club, but she tries to join in literature activities. She likes her old school's uniform, and even though she has the new school's uniform in her possession, she continues to wear her old one. She is bad at putting her own hair into pigtails.

Misaki Kawana (川名 みさき, Kawana Misaki)

Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (PS), Satsuki Yukino (drama CD), Machiko Toyoshima (all-ages OVA), Ayana Sumoto (PC full-voice)

Misaki is an upperclassman of Kōhei who lost her eyesight in an accident in elementary school. She meets Kōhei on the roof of school during sunset. She has no caution toward those bearing the handicap of darkness and those who have blind reason, and she has a sociable personality where she can be unreserved with anyone. Her house is right in front of the school, so she can get to school even by herself. She used to play around in the high school even before she lost her eyesight, so she is used to it. She is a surprisingly big eater, and there is a scene where she eats several people's worth of curry at the cafeteria. She often shows up at the theater club to help her best friend Yukimi Miyama.

Mio Kouzuki (上月 澪, Kōzuki Mio))

Voiced by: Masumi Asano (all-ages OVA)

Mio is a mute underclassman of Kōhei's with abundant expressions. Since she cannot speak, she uses a sketchbook to carry on written conversations. She belongs to the theater club as a junior of Yukimi Miyama. While she performs non-speaking parts, she handles her own role reliably. She is quite a dojikko, an anime stereotype for klutzy cute girls. Other than the sketchbook she uses, she has an older sketchbook which she treasures greatly.

Mayu Shiina (椎名 繭, Shiina Mayu)

Voiced by: Ikue Ōtani (PS), Mika Kanai (all-ages OVA), Miya Serizono (PC full-voice)

Mayu is a childish girl in junior high school who refuses to go to school. Her one and only friend she could trust in life, a ferret named Myū, dies around when she meets Kōhei and the other main characters. As soon as something bad happens, she starts yelling the ferret's name and crying uncontrollably. In order to help her grow up, Kōhei gets her mixed in with his class. Her favorite food is a teriyaki burger. She also likes things that are long like a ferret, and takes a fancy to Rumi's hair and even strange plush snakes.

Akane Satomura (里村 茜, Satomura Akane)

Voiced by: Akiko Nakagawa (PS), Wakana Yamazaki (drama CD), Sayuri Yoshida (all-ages OVA), Miru (PC full-voice)

Akane is a quiet girl in the same class as Kōhei. She meets him on a rainy day, standing by herself in an empty lot. Her childhood friend she fell in love with, Tsukasa, disappeared into the Eternal World in the same lot. Ever since, she continues waiting in that empty lot on rainy days, holding a pink umbrella, waiting for him to return. She enjoys cooking and making her own boxed lunches. She does not really open her heart up to those around her, and any time Kōhei tries to do something for her, she replies, "no". The sole person she can talk normally with is Shiiko. She has sweet tooth and wears her long hair in braids.

Secondary characters

Maki Hirose (広瀬 真希, Hirose Maki)

Voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami (PS)

Maki is one of Kōhei's classmates who constantly meddles with Rumi.

Yukimi Miyama (深山 雪見, Miyama Yukimi)

Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (PS), Kyoko Hikami (all-ages OVA), Aoi Kamizuki (PC full-voice)

Yukimi is Misaki's childhood friend and president of the theater club. She supports Misaki no matter what happens, but for a good reason she has been called an "atrocious person" by Misaki. She creates specific roles in plays for Mio so she can act without saying a word.

Kaho Shiina (椎名 華穂, Shiina Kaho)

Kaho is Mayu's stepmother. Originally she was not given a name, but a fan-created continuation novel gave her this name which was later officially recognized.

Shiiko Yuzuki (柚木 詩子, Yuzuki Shiiko)

Voiced by: Omi Minami (PS), Miki Nagasawa (drama CD), Akiko Yajima (all-ages OVA), Miruku Uchimura (PC full-voice)

Shiiko is Akane's childhood friend. She goes to a different school than Akane, but she starts to show up at Akane's school since she has not seen her around lately. She is worried about Akane being depressed. She has a lot of nerve, doing things like openly showing up at Kōhei's school's homeroom or graduation ceremony. As an excuse, she says this behavior is okay because there are other students wearing different schools' uniforms around, meaning Rumi Nanase. She had the same childhood friend as Akane, but after he went to the Eternal World, her memories of him completely vanished. There are many times when she turns against Kōhei.

Mamoru Sumii (住井 護, Sumii Mamoru)

Voiced by: Daisuke Sakaguchi (drama CD), Ayumu Nakazawa (PC full-voice)

Mamoru Sumii is Kōhei's classmate. He loves events and is skilled at thinking of ways to kill time during class. He spends winter break at Kōhei's house, and is lazy.

Misao Orihara (折原 みさお, Orihara Misao)

Voiced by: Hisayo Mochizuki (all-ages OVA), Midori Hayase (PC full-voice)

Misao is Kōhei's younger sister. She dies of illness, which a depiction mid-story suggests it could be cancer. Her death provides the trigger for Kōhei's vow to find the Eternal World.

Yukiko Kosaka (小坂 由起子, Kosaka Yukiko)

Yukiko is Kōhei's aunt; she took him in after he lost both his parents. She is busy with work, leaving early in the morning and arriving late at night, so she is never actually shown in the game. However, there is a point where she and Kōhei bump into each other.

Shun Hikami (氷上 シュン, Hikami Shun)

Voiced by: Sōichirō Hoshi (all-ages OVA), Arashi Tsunami (PC full-voice)

Shun is a hidden member of the same light music club as Kōhei. He confuses Kōhei with his mysterious speech and actions, but his comments may hold clues to the Eternal World.

Added characters

Three additional characters not featured in the original game were later included in the PlayStation, drama CD, and novel versions. As such, these characters are not a part of the original canon.

Natsuki Shimizu (清水 なつき, Shimizu Natsuki)

Voiced by: Yuka Imai (PS)

Natsuki only appears in the PlayStation version. She is saved by Kōhei when she is almost hit by a car. From that point, she says he is like an older brother, and starts calling him "onii-chan".

Tsukasa Jōjima (城島 司, Jōjima Tsukasa)

Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa (drama CD)

Tsukasa only appears in the novels published by Movic and in the drama CDs. He is the character established as Akane's childhood friend who disappeared into the Eternal World. Akane had fallen in love with him, but he disappeared by chasing after a former teacher who died.

Saeko Nanjō (南条 紗江子, Nanjō Saeko)

Voiced by: Eriko Fujimaki (drama CD)

Saeko only appears in the novels and drama CDs. She was a social studies teacher at the junior high where Akane and her friends went. She had many followers around the school; in particular, Tsukasa admired her. However, she died young, causing his ruin. Later, this became the trigger leading to Akane closing her heart.

Reception

The characters of One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e have received both praise and criticism from publications dedicated to anime and manga. THEM Anime Reviews called the characters kind of cute but clichéd in terms of a dating simulation, and the artwork was overall dubbed "okay".