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If you bump into a member of the opposite sex, causing one or both of you to drop whatever you're carrying in a hilarious fashion, then congratulations, you've just fallen in love.
— Riff Trax Live: "Only in the Movies" trivia card.
A variety of Meet Cute: A bad first impression wherein a character in a hurry or simply not paying attention runs into another character as their first meeting, often done while Late For School.
Sometimes the inattentive/hurrying character apologizes for doing so, but the other character shrugs it off with some snarky comment. After all, it could be worse. Far worse. With the latter situations, this usually starts a small animosity but is a nice guarantee to the audience that they'll get together by the end of the show.
If both parties are sufficiently inattentive, they wind up piled one on top of the other on the ground in a position easily mistaken for extreme passion. After a beat, the two will wind up in an Instant Seiza position, facing away from one another and blushing furiously. One party could also be mistaken for a pervert. This is a favored pickup tactic of Dojikkos.
Compare Funbag Airbag.
Examples:
Anime and Manga
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Rei and Shinji first meet in the episode 26 Alternate Universe by running into each other on the sidewalk on the way to school. Rei immediately becomes embarrassed and covers up her skirt after she assumes Shinji is peeping at her, later bringing it up in front of the rest of their classmates when she sees they are both in the same class.
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days, which takes said Alternate Universe and makes it into a full-fledged manga series, extends this into a clear form of Meet Cute, with Asuka demanding that Rei apologizes to Shinji. Rei not only apologizes, but has a change of heart and forms a close friendship with Shinji, much to the ire of Asuka.
- Turned Up To Eleven in Rebuild Of Evangelion in the case of Mari, who actually crashes into Shinji with a freaking parachute. Not to mention that his face winds up between her breasts.
- Tenchi Muyo: Prompted by a mischievous Sasami, both Ryoko and Ayeka engineer "crash meetings" with Tenchi months after they first met him, thinking it's a necessary part of Earth courtship rituals. A somewhat in-character Lampshade Hanging.
- Parodied In Haré+Guu. Marie, persuaded by advice from an Otaku attempts this on Haré. It doesn't work as Haré already knows her and she knocked him against a tree.
- Yumi and Sachiko meet this way in Maria-sama ga Miteru, at a time that's unclear in the first episode.
- During the "Dating Sim"/"Shojo" episode of Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai, Sasshi and Amiryun have an intentionally cliched collision meeting.
- In episode 2 of Keroro Gunsou, Momoka bumps into Fuyuki intentionally in order to get an excuse to talk to him.
- A flashback chapter in the manga shows this is, in fact, how Fuyuki and Momoka originally met.
- In Kanon, this is pretty much the only way Ayu had to say hello to Yuuichi (one such instance is pictured above). May be a bit of a subversion, as there's plenty of reason to think that Ayu is doing this on purpose.
- Kanon also had Yuuichi and Nayuki meet Mai and Sayuri with a collision on the school stairwell.
- Although there is no direct, physical contact made, this is how Jun and Suiseiseki first met in Rozen Maiden.
- In Love Hina, it is how Naru and Keitaro first meet; instead of facing away from one another and blushing furiously, it ends with Naru's first Megaton Punch.
- It's also how Mutsumi Otohime is introduced, at least in the anime. Except Keitaro thinks she's dead, because of her fainting spells.
- It was like that in the manga, too.
- Rosario + Vampire takes this literally in which Moka first meets Tsukune by hitting him full-on with her bike.
- Subverted in Ouran High School Host Club where the club president lands on Haruhi during a visit to her house. The sensible Haruhi shrugs it off as an accident. Her father however has a less than pleasant reaction to it.
- In FLCL, Haruko literally crashes into Naota. With a Vespa scooter. Thinking she killed him, she gives him a real Kiss Of Life, just to hit him again when he revives with a bass guitar wielded much like a baseball bat. It's that kind of show.
- Happens in the first episode of Pretear with Himeno and Hayate. Hilarity Ensues.
- One episode of the original Sailor Moon series involved Rei deliberately attempting to arrange this kind of meeting with Mamoru. Her plan doesn't work out the way she expected, but she drags Mamoru on a date anyway.
- Usagi initially meets Mamoru in this fashion, and innumerable times thereafter.
- Seiji's meeting of Lucy Winnlad in the Midori Days manga.
- In Basilisk, Oboro not only trips on her future fiancé Gennosuke, but she dumps the contents of a tea tray she was bringing for him and the elders. Ouch.
- In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, done when Caro tumbled down the train station escalator and Erio used Sonic Move to save her. They crashed into the top of the upper floor — with Erio's hands on Caro's chest, accidentally and innocently (they're about ten years old), though both were embarrassed and went to an Instant Seiza position afterward. It should be noted they did not dwell on it, a rarity in these instances.
- Kashimashi - the entire series starts when a spaceship, who also has a humanoid form named Jan-Puu, crashes into and kills the main character, setting the entire series into motion and also starting Jan-Puu's crush on the main character because she interprets the crash as her first kiss.
- Eiken. It's how Densuke and Chiharu met in the first chapter of the manga, and it got adapted as the first few minutes of the first OVA episode (which, for the most part, loosely adapted a storyline from the third volume of the manga).
- Christie and Matt sorta meet this way in Dramacon
- An anime called {{Love Love?}} used this trope repeatedly. The clumsy main male lead, one Ooizumi Naoto, met nearly all of the female cast in this manner. (He even got into an accidental breast grope on one of them, who instantly fell in love with him because of this.)
- In the Ranma 1/2 manga, this is the way Shampoo continually meets up with Ranma: she lands on his head, with her bike. The anime cuts this almost completely; it only happens in one fifth season episode and the first movie.
- Happens in the first episode of Princess Tutu. Ahiru runs into the ballet classroom thinking she's late for class (she's actually an hour early), where Mytho happens to be practicing. She flails while yelping out an apology, then turns to run out the door—and promply trips, causing the princely Mytho to run to catch her, hurting his ankle in the process. This also happens later in the second season, in a flashback that shows how Rue and Mytho met. She was running away from the evil crows, and literally runs into the wandering, heartless prince, who saves her from them.
- Kenshin Himura meets Kaoru for the first time when she attacks him with a bokken, thinking him to be the legendary Hitokiri Battousai. (She turns out to be right, but there's also an impostor running around.)
- In Card Captor Sakura, Sakura's parents sorta met this way... when a teenage Nadeshiko fell off from a tree and landed on her handsome student teacher Fujitaka, whom she'd marry after her school graduation.
- Also, though it isn't their first meeting, Sakura and Syaoran meet up again in the second movie when Sakura crashes into Syaoran.
- Rollerblading right into her is how Sakura first meets her new teacher Kaho Mizuki.
- In Code Geass, this is how Euphie met Suzaku, where she jumps from a window several stories above the ground and lands in Suzaku's arms.
- In Mahou Sensei Negima, Emily Sevensheep has an Imagine Spot of the quickest
 possible instance of the trope: From crash to proposal in less than 5 seconds!
- Much earlier on in the series, Nodoka first meets Kotaro this way, although they don't really interact much until a lot later.
- Played around with in Toradora. Ryuuji walks straight into Taiga, but doesn't even see her until he looks straight down.
- In Bleach Toushiro Hitsugaya meets his future lieutenant this way though a small problem also makes it a Funbag Airbag her...generous assists almost snap the poor boy's neck! Then he began to cry and nosebleed at the same time.
- In Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun, Mayu falls down a helicopter ramp and lands on Shungo's face ass-first. This may be a warning to the viewer that "yes, it's going to be that kind of show."
- Victorian Romance Emma leads Emma and William meet when Emma opens a door right when William is about to knock. It leaves quite a mark.
- In Vision Of Escaflowne, Van materialized in the middle of the track Hitomi was running around as fast as she could. No points for guessing what happened next.
- In Karin, the title character meets the male lead for the first time when he's introduced as a transfer student. She has such a strong reaction to him, though, that she can't be in his presence. The next day she decides to test whether it's actually a reaction to him... and promptly crashes right into him before she's prepared herself for it.
- Big Windup — Ren crashes into the only female character his age. He feels the tension like crazy and they introduce each other... and go off and do other things. They're too young. not a Meet Cute
- A little later he meets Haruna this way and it's only used to be sort of confrontational, without a hint of romance to it. unless you ask the YaoiFangirls
- Subverted in Baka To Test To Shokanju: Idiot Hero Akihasa meets the 2# of his school Kubo this way. They already know each other.
- In MAR, this is done twice by the same characters. When Snow is first released from the ice prison she put herself in, she falls, directly into Ginta, ending up with them sharing their first kiss together. Their reactions are well expected for their age.
- When Snow is released from her prison, she again crashes into Ginta in the fall, inciting another kiss. You'd think after fighting a 'war' for a few days would put you above being embarased by a kiss again, not this time.
- Averted in Super Dreadnought Girl 4946, a foreign girl calling herself Isaac Montana tries to consciously pull this on the protagonist Tobita. He swiftly dodges the assault, resulting in the girl bumping her head on a street light. Confused on why he dodged she asks if it isn't normal for boys and girls in japan to bump into each other while munching on a slice of bread on their way to school, showing him the slice of bread she seems to have been munching on before.
- Lampshaded in Hunter X Hunter, at the beginning of the Greed Island saga, in Love-Love City.
- In Ai Kora, not long after Maeda arrives in Tokyo, Sakurako crashes into him on a bicycle.
- Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple actually begins with a variation of this trope: while running down the street because he's Late For School, Kenichi accidentally touches Miu from the back, and she promptly knocks him down (a reflex conditioned into her through years of martial arts training). She apologizes, he runs away, she notices that he forgot a "how-to" book on making friendships (in the anime version it was a karate tutoring video), and the rest is history.
- Millennium Actress - Chiyoko meets the man with the key twice this way. When, as an adult, she bumps into a random stranger on the street, she half-expects it to be him.
- Eureka Seven takes it to another level, when Eureka crashes a giant robot into Renton's house. (She then holds a funeral for his room, and asks for a flamethrower. It's the start of a beautiful friendship.)
- And Kurogane No Linebarrel has Emi crash her giant robot into Kouichi's skull, crushing him into a bloody puddle and killing him instantly. So of course, they have to fall in love.
- In The Cherry Project, Chieri crashes into her idol and professional skater Tsuzuki at the rink. Naturally, they fall in love after some trouble, although she had a huge crush on him in the first place.
Comic Books
- This was how Robin met Jaime Reyes, the third Blue Beetle. As it is a western comic, it probably wasn't intended to come off as romantic, but...
- Ditto for Asher and Gar in Innocent Mage.
Fanfiction
Film
- In The Fifth Element, Leeloo falls 37 stories and through the roof of Dallas Korben's flying taxicab.
- Likewise in Jewel Of The Nile, the Plucky Girl meets the title character when she crashes through the roof of his cell. As the holy man was praying for deliverance at the time, the unexpected delivery from the powers above of a woman instead is most unexpected.
- Undercover Brother. The title character first meets Penelope Snow by accidentally bumping into her and knocking her papers out of her hands. They eventually fall in love and hook up. It's later revealed that Penelope Snow is actually his nemesis White She Devil, so the collision was probably no accident.
- At the start of Notting Hill, Hugh Grant's character crashes into Julia Roberts and spills orange juice over her.
- In Future War, a kickboxing slave on the run from cyborgs and dinosaurs meets a hooker-turned-trainee nun when the latter hits him with her car.
- In The Secret Of NIMH, the eternal klutz Jeremy finds his longed-for soulmate when she rams into him at full speed. This happens at the end of the film, rather than at the beginning (as is more traditional for this trope).
- In Modern Times, this is exactly how Charlie Chaplin meets the girl: she has just stolen a loaf of bread, runs at full speed around a corner and crashes straight into him.
- Subverted in Arthur, as the title character thinks he's done this, only to realize that he's crashed into a hedge.
- Played a little different in D.E.B.S., with the dropped items being guns.
- Done in North by Northwest turns out it was a deliberate set up.
- This is how the producers of the show have Truman meet his designated love interest and future wife in The Truman Show.
- Happens in The Cutting Edge (the first one). The male lead bowls the female over as he's rushing to his Olympic hockey game.
Literature
- Mara Jade met Luke Skywalker in The Thrawn Trilogy, but the first time they meet in the flesh in Specter of the Past, he's cold-shirting in a Jedi hibernation trance through a stretch of space, she's standing in a hangar bay to catch him, and she speaks the phrase that will snap him out of the trance as she intercepts him, so he wakes up straddling her on all fours. They then converse a bit about his disguise before she says, "So. You want to get off me, or were you just getting comfortable?"
- While he had just seen them in their commander's office, D'Artagnan first speaks to Athos and Porthos after running into them. This being seventeenth century France, they immediately challenge him to duels.
- In the Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman, Sturm Brightblade and the elven princess-whose-name-this-troper-can't-remember literally fall in love this way. They have absolutely zero interaction beyond running headlong into each other, and Sturm pulling her into a doorway out of the way of a rampaging, crazed mob. This is enough to get the xenophobic elf princess to give Sturm a precious, empathic amulet-thing, and to pine for him for the rest of the series.
Live Action TV
- Happens several times to Darrin and Samantha in the very first episode of Bewitched.
- Lampshade Hanging on Neds Declassified School Survival Guide: Moze hopes such a scenario will make a kiss with her new boyfriend cause the magical spark she's hoping for. It doesn't.
- Played textbook straight in the first episode of Season 2 (a.k.a. Volume 2) of Heroes, in the scene where Claire is late for her new school and forgets to look both sides before she crosses the street, and thus runs right in front of West's car. From that moment on, West stalks her, they bicker like teenagers, until they end up together as girlfriend and boyfriend in record time... and then, at the end of the (because of the Writer's Strike) aborted shortened season Claire tells West that it's over. Huzzah!
- This was actually how Jin and Sun from Lost met for the first time, as seen in the season 2 episode ...And Found. Various details make the scene a semi-subversion of this trope, though: 1) It was a flashback scene, as the show starts out with the couple already married. 2) It was the climax of both characters' flashback scenes for this episode. 3) The episode implies that they immediately started dating following their crashy first encounter. 4) The distraction that caused Jin to run into Sun in the first place was another woman wearing an orange skirt (a friend had prophesized him that love would "wear orange").
- Although her role as a Recurring Character faded out after awhile, overeager ensign Sonya Gomez memorably met Picard this way in the Star Trek The Next Generation episode "Q-Who?", as she turned a corner much too quickly while holding a cup of hot chocolate...
Ensign Gomez: Oh, I wasn't looking! It's all over you!
Picard (trying very hard to sound calm): Yes, ensign, it's all over me.
- Art met Linda in Eastern Standard Tribe by hitting her with his car.
Music
- The Cat Empire song Beanni is about this happening between a pair of bogans, whose predilection for ugly headwear is apparently genetic. Yeah.
Video Games
- The inclusion of a Crash Into Hello in the Dating Sim Cross Channel inspired the flash game Nanaca Crash.
- And thus we find out that the official noise of "person getting whacked by a bicycle" is zubaaaaaaan. Yes, with seven 'A's.
- The object of one of the minigames in Wario Ware: Twisted! is to help a girl have a Crash Into Hello meeting with a boy.
- Chrono Trigger, simultaneously introducing the female lead and the first [pendant-shaped] Mac Guffin.
- Robo gets his own version in one of the endings; the Reptite Ending also reproduces it, with the lead characters as, well, Reptites instead of humans.
- Happens several times in the Dating Sim Tokimeki Memorial, with Shrinking Violet Miharu Tatebayashi, Genki Girl Yuko Asahina, and The Libby Mira Kagami. Subverted in Miharu's case, as she's actually doing it on purpose, because she's too shy to tell the protagonist that she likes him.
- A Running Gag in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum is your rival doing this every time he appears as he is impatient and runs everywhere. It was carried over to the anime.
- Happens in what has been released of the Katawa Shoujo Dating Sim, except here the girl has prosthetic legs while the guy has a form heart arrhythmia and is not supposed to get hit in the chest. Luckily, nothing happens.
- Final Fantasy VIII features a crash to introduce a member of the party to Squall. You might be surprised to remember that it isn't the Love Interest Rinoa who gets introduced this way, but the team Genki Girl Selphie (before her official FMV introduction during the first mission, where she falls down a small hill.
- In Tales Of Destiny, Stahn and Mary meet this way.
- In Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards, Kirby meets Ribbon this way.
Web Comics
- In this strip of Tsunami Channel: Experimental Comic Kotone, the Crash Into Hello is presented as a staple of dating sim games the comic parodies.
- This XKCD strip.
- This is how Bob and Jean first meet in The Inexplicable Adventures Of Bob, in an homage to old Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercials. Their collision gives rise to Molly the Peanut Butter Monster.
- Questionable Content has lampshaded this on this page. The character whose arms she stumbles into has never met her, but has given her his number by proxy, was only just contemplating turning into a Stalker With A Crush, and sarcastically saying how likely it would be for her just to crash into him randomly.
- Also happened to Steve previously in this strip, though it's also something of a subversion as the relationship doesn't last long. Relatively speaking.
- Anime News Nina subverts and lampshades this twice. The first time, Nina crashes into a man, and begins to fantasize about falling in love with him (just like in Kimidori Story), not noticing that he's walking away with his boyfriend. The second time, Nina witnesses a girl crash into a guy. Saying "accidents like these are usually the start of a great anime romance!" Nina watches...only to see the guy yelling at the girl to watch where she's going.
Web Original
- 'Survival Of The Fittest' has a subversion in v4 between Reiko Ishida and Sarah Xu. Subverted since both end up with concussions and a bloodied lip/nose respectively.
Real Life
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