"With you, I will never grow." 

Love Strikes continues the good track record of quality Japanese production with a point to express. It is simply about a story of a 30 year guy who just cannot seem to attract or keep a girl. However that's all about to change as the movie shows how he deals with the destiny year of three very different girls coming into his life. It is almost truism to say that people want what we cannot have, but this movie shows and depicts the difficulty for an inexperience guy coming up against the more experienced female counterparts.

What I enjoyed most about this film is because it tries to show the story from a male perspective. The carefree manner in which the director is able to breeze through the corridors and every corner is with some fun, some meaningful moments and some tragic times. One of the best lines of the movie comes from the girl that the guy loves the most, giving the following as reason why she prefers someone married over him: "with you, I will never grow." It is one of the most cynical yet true quotations and perfectly explains the sad reality of modern relationships.

All in all, Love Strikes! is easily one of the best Japanese romantic dramas in 2011. It may not seem like much, but the film strikes the audience right in cord where it counts, hurts and feels. In a way the film is a bittersweet lesson about the making of the female counterpart and also a story about a nerdy guy trying to find love in face of a battlefield ahead. It is true that love feels great, but to understand it will never be possible. For what it is worth, Love Strikes! is a delightful drama that works from start to finish, if you can ignore the unnecessary sweet ending. Still, this film is easily heads and shoulders above its peers and like 500 Days of Summer, the male audience can relate 

Neo rates it 8/10

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Love Strikes!

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