I was wondering if anyone knows the full intro quote to FMA (the one Al says about The 1st rule of alchemy). I'm working on a good desktop theme and want the quote to add it to the background image. I've searched about 200 sites and none help.

Also, I'll be happy to share the theme if anyone is interested.

i know the japanese one, but i don't like the dub and don't really watch it, so i don't know the english one. if you want the japanese blurb, i'd be happy to help isn't another ep airing tonight? just listen and copy it down

I have the japenese one too, but I don't like it as much as the English.

You might wanna spell check it ^^. This was taken from the opening that FUNi released on the offical site before the series came out, so it might have been changed since then. But I'm pretty sure this is it.

Man can not obtain anything without first sacrificing something.
In order to obtain anything something of equal value is required.
That is Alchemy's law of equlivant exchange.
At the time we believed that to be the true way of the world.

Correction: Humankind.

Humankind can not obtain anything without first sacrificing something.
In order to obtain anything something of equal value is required.
That is Alchemy's law of equlivant exchange.
At the time we believed that to be the true way of the world.

*Waves tape with recored FMA episodes on it in the air*

Humankind can not get anything without first giving something in return.
To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.
That is Alchemy's first law of equlivant exchange.
In those days, we really believed that to be the world’s one and only truth.

No way I love the Japanese one way better! Maybe it's whatever we saw first.
Oh I guess what I meant to say was that I prefer the first episode Al Speech to the Adult Swim Ed speech.

actually, the japanese subbed one is a bit wordy, don't you think? i mean, let's compare the dubbed one with the subbed one shall we?

DUBBED VERSION:
Human kind cannot obtain anything without first giving something in return
To obtain, something of equal value must be lost
That is alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange.
In those days, we really believed that to be that world's one and only truth.

VS.

SUBBED VERSION:
People cannot gain anything without sacrificing something.
You must present something of equal value to gain something.
That is the principle of equivalent TRADE in alchemy.
We believed that was the truth of the world when we were young.

If you ask me, the subbed version is way too wordy and the sentences just don't flow well together. Also, the dubbed version kind of gives a more lasting impression, doesn't it? It seems more meaningful than the subbed translations. but hey, that's just me.

personally i think that the intro in the dub sounds really choppy, compared to both the sub translations and the raw's japanese:

hito wa nanika no gisei nashi ni, nani mo eru koto wa dekinai.
nanika wo eru tame ni wa, doutou no daika ga hitsuyou ni naru.
sore ga, renkinjutsu ni okeru "toukakoukan" no gensoku da.
sono koro, bokura wa sore ga sekai no shinjitsu da to shinjiteita.

ah, i love listening to/saying that, i think it flows pretty well in japanese. as for the sub translations, a lot of that is just how a group chooses to translate. toukakoukan could have been the law of conservation, equivalent exchange, equivalent trade....and i feel like the japanese version explains toukakoukan a little bit clearer (which is debatable), and i don't really like how the dub calls toukakoukan alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange. so are there second and third laws? the series sure doesn't mention them. it just feels like an unnecessary tweak to me.

i think what they mean by alchemy's FIRST law of equivalent exchange means that that specific law is the basis of Alchemy. It is, if you will, the most important law, thus given the name 'First' Law. ack! i'm confusing myself, in a nutshell, the word "FIRST" is just there to emphasize that "toukakoukan" is the most important law in Alchemy. there we go.

the japanese by itself flows well, and sounds freaking awesome, even though i don't understand it. but whatever. what i was comparing the dub to was just the fan-translations.

It's great fun to try to say the japanese text with Al. It's quite hard actually, it goes rathere fast. I need to practice.

And I like the sub of the last phrase 'We believed that was the truth of the world whe we were young.' It kinda tells you already that believing it is over.

So basically you mean a "default" law. That ONE and ONLY law is what they believed?

it's actually not so bad, i get bored in the car so i babble stuff from FMA to help with my japanese pronounciation (frequent riders of my car are getting pretty knowledgable in toukakoukan too, from all the time's i've said al's quote). i usually say al's when i'm waiting for the stoplight by the school, and then a few more times coming back from dropping off my carpoolers/moochers afterschool. and lately i've been sticking in parts of episode 48, like the quotes in my sig, and this part of 51 (SPOILER! if you haven't watched the sub and understand japanese....which would be weird): "inochi no daika wa hoka ni nai. ore no subete wo sasagetemo, muda kamoshirenai. demo, omae ga kiechimau koto nan tte nain da. modotte koi....aru." that one's not hard (but my friends wonder why i have the brain capacity to memorize things like this and not calculus formulas). if you memorize it, say it a few times when you're walking or in the car or something, it really did help me loosen up my tongue, especially with those "ru"s, and i can speak japanese a lot faster now call it self-training.

and _alchemist, i see where you're coming from with the FIRST law being the most important, but i think they could have translated it to emphasize toukakoukan's importance clearer. like, it's the basis of alchemy, alchemy's fundamental principle or law. silly funi.

The second quote is...



Meaning...

'Sono koro' actually literally means something more like "at that time," but it was a minor act of literary license, I suppose.

I agree with Ninja-san. The speed at which Aru is speaking really isn't that fast. It's not hard at all if you actually know some Japanese. Once you're able to recognize the seperate words it'll actually make sense to you, and it's so many times easier than reciting random syllables.

It's true that it's not the easiest monologue for non-Japanese-speakers to recite, though.

Does anyone happen to have the Japanese one?? I love it in Japanese!!...even though I don't understand it

Look at the first posts Fullmetal Elf...
I liked that too..It's better than the English one...

The Japanese one was posted by xrninja on page one, post #9.

Human kind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return; To obtain something of equal value must be lost; That is alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange. In those days we really thought that to be the worlds one and only truth.