Yume de Aetara

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If I See You in My Dreams <tr><td colspan="2" style="background: #fff; text-align: center;">Image:If I See You In My Dreams.jpg</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="background: #ccf; text-align: center;">夢で逢えたら (Yume de Aetera)</td></tr>
Genre	Romance
Manga
Authored by	Noriyuki Yamahana
Publisher	Image:Flag of Japan (bordered).svg Shueisha
Serialized in	Image:Flag of Japan (bordered).svg Business Jump
Original run	February 1994 – December 1999
No. of volumes	17
OVA
Directed by	Hiroshi Watanabe
Studio	J.C.STAFF
No. of episodes	3
Released	1998
Runtime
TV anime
Directed by	Takeshi Yamaguchi
Studio	J.C. Staff
Network	Image:Flag of Japan (bordered).svg TBS Image:Flag of Spain.svg Locomotion Image:Flag of Brazil.svg Locomotion Brazil
Original run	November 30, 1998 – December 24, 1998
No. of episodes	16

Yume de Aetara (夢であえたら) (Translation: "If I See You In My Dreams") is a Japanese manga series originally penned by Noriyuki Yamahana under the pen name HANAKO, serialized in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine (1994 - 2000).

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

It follows a Japanese salaryman in a big city who falls in love with an elementary school teacher named Nagisa. Masao (the aforementioned sap) tries repeatedly to get her to consider him potential dating material, but every time he seems to make progress, something inevitably goes wrong. Nagisa, in fact, likes Masao, but due to a previous heartbreak constantly pushes him away.

At the beginning this series follows the tried, true, and arguably tired horrible coincidence gag ("I swear, I just tripped onto her!"). However, as the series progresses, it becomes more thoughtful and mature, with many of the problems evolving out of the character's personalities rather than being imposed artificially by circumstances.

At one point later on in the manga, Masao takes in a pregnant woman out of compassion. This information makes its way to Nagisa, but in a different form; she is told that the girl is pregnant with his child, but she eventually determines the truth for herself. The series ends with a no-longer-cowed Masao persuading Nagisa to marry him instead of another man (a harmless but boring man with no particular passion for life).

Yume de Aetara was made into two anime shows: a TV series and a direct-to-video or OVA series, both of them produced by TBS.