Sections
Yume (夢): what it means in anime
夢
ゆめ · yume · dream; hope; wish JLPT N4
Yume means "dream", both the kind you have at night and the kind you chase. Anime loves the second one: 夢がある ("I have a dream"), 夢を叶える ("to make a dream come true").
Where you hear it 4 of 42 series
Lines from the Japanese subtitles of episodes 1–3 of each show. A translation is shown only when it clearly matches the line; counts are subtitle lines containing the word.
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Chainsaw Man · 12 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 1
夢くらい… 見させてほしいよな…At least let me have my night-time dream.
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One Piece · 8 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 1
小さい頃からの夢なんです やれるでしょうか？It's been my dream since I was little.Will I be able to do it?
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Cowboy Bebop · 4 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 3
いいだろ 夢の話なんだからOh come on, it's all part of the dream I had.
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Mob Psycho 100 · 6 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 1
お前の夢にも出てやろうか？
Usage and nuance
Luffy's dream of becoming Pirate King is his 夢, and One Piece treats the word as sacred. Cowboy Bebop uses it the other way round, as something you wake from.
夢みたい means "like a dream", 夢じゃない is "this isn't a dream", and 夢を見る covers both dreaming at night and daydreaming. 悪夢 (akumu) is "nightmare".
When a character asks 夢は？ they mean "what do you want to be?", the standard question to a child in Japan.
Hear 夢 in Chainsaw Man12 lines in episodes 1–3 · tappable subtitles · free, no account