What Do The Again Lyrics Yui Say About Love And Loss?

When that opening guitar hits in 'Again', it still makes me grab my hoodie and stare at the ceiling like something important is unfolding. YUI both wrote and composed 'Again' herself — she’s credited as the lyricist and composer — and the song was used as the first opening for 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood' when it came out in 2009. I felt the lyrics speak to that stubborn, aching desire to begin again and to carry on despite loss, which meshes so well with the anime’s themes. I don’t just mean the plot connection: from what I’ve read and felt watching interviews and live performances, YUI drew on the emotional landscape the anime demanded — resilience, guilt, hope — while also pulling from her personal experience of growing up, pushing through creative slumps, and wanting a fresh start. The words are direct but layered, like someone sketching the feeling of trying to rebuild. Musically it’s lean, guitar-driven, and urgent, which makes the message land hard. Whenever I hear it, I picture both Ed and a younger YUI looking out at the same horizon, deciding to move forward.

I get excited every time someone asks about this because 'Again' feels alive differently on record versus on stage. The studio version is clean and tight: the vocal takes are polished, the guitar tone is balanced, and the pacing is exactly what YUI and the producer intended — you hear the precise phrasing and the lyrical flow as the official reference. That makes the words land a certain way, like a finished painting. Live, though, it’s a different creature. The tempo can breathe faster or slower, notes get stretched for emotion, and YUI sometimes adds little ad-libs or elongated vowels that aren’t in the printed lyrics. Crowd noise, spontaneous harmonies, and occasional line repeats change the texture. Sometimes she’ll strip it back for an acoustic moment or mash it into a medley, which can lead to lines being shortened or rearranged. So if you want the canonical lyrics, go studio; if you want personality and rawness, chase live recordings — both are wonderful in their own way.

Honestly, the first time 'again' kicked in I felt like someone had put words to this weird ache I kept in my chest. YUI's voice is raw but warm, like a friend telling you it's okay to feel broken and keep moving. The lyrics use short, plain lines that carry heavy emotion without pretension — images of stepping forward, looking back, trying again — and that makes them so easy to sing along to even if English isn’t your first language. What sealed it was how perfectly the song paired with 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood'. The visuals and story beats gave the words context: every line felt like it was about Edward and Alphonse but also about anyone who's lost something and wants it back. Add the driving rhythm, the hook that swells into the chorus, and you get an earworm that’s also a little therapy session. I still catch myself humming it when I'm cooking or walking home, and it hits me differently depending on my mood — which I think is the real magic.

I still hum 'again' on my commute sometimes, so this is one I've hunted down properly. If you want official translations of YUI's 'again', the best places to start are sources tied to the artist or the labels themselves. First, check the physical CD single or album booklet for 'again' — Japanese singles sometimes include official English translations or at least an official romanization and credits. If you don't own the CD, try looking for a digital booklet that came with purchases on stores like iTunes/Apple Music; sometimes the digital album includes the booklet with translated lyrics. Next, peek at YUI's official homepage and her record label's site (the label that released 'again'). Official music videos uploaded to the artist's or label's YouTube channel may also have subtitle options added by the rights holder. Additionally, licensed lyric providers such as LyricFind or Musixmatch have agreements with publishers and can display licensed translations — check their apps or the lyric panels within streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify (where available). As a last step, if you need absolute confirmation of an official translation, look for a translator credit, publisher name, or contact the label directly; those details are the giveaway that a translation is official. I found a few translated booklets that way for other songs, so it's worth a little digging — and it's a nice excuse to re-listen to 'again' a few times.

Whenever I stumble across another cover of 'again', I always listen for the lyrics first — that emotional phrase-by-phrase delivery is what made YUI's version stick with me. Most covers I hear on YouTube, at open mics, or on friend playlists keep the Japanese lyrics intact because they're so tied to the melody and emotion. People who grew up with 'again' and with 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood' often want that exact feeling, so singers usually reproduce the original lines and phrasing. That said, I've encountered several kinds of changes. Some artists translate the words to English (or another language) to make the meaning clearer for new listeners, while others tweak a syllable here or there to fit a lower or higher key. Live performances sometimes shorten verses or add ad-libs. Instrumental or piano/guitar covers obviously remove the words, and a few creative covers rearrange lines to form a medley. If a cover is meant to be a personal reinterpretation, expect more lyrical tweaks; if it's a tribute, expect near-exact lyrics. Personally, I love both approaches: the faithful ones for nostalgia and the altered ones for fresh perspectives.

Whenever I hear 'Again' I get this vivid rush of images from 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood'—that pounding guitar and YUI's voice feel like someone sprinting out of the past and refusing to look back. The lyrics don't actually lay out a literal backstory or a character timeline; they're more like emotional snapshots. Lines about trying, falling, and holding on read as internal monologue rather than a biography. That ambiguity is what I love: you can fit them to Edward's guilt and resolve, or to a more personal memory of losing something and deciding to move forward. I also think part of the confusion comes from translation. Different fans translate certain phrases in ways that sound like plot details, but in Japanese the language is often poetic and elliptical. YUI's delivery—soft in verses, raw in the chorus—fills in the gaps, making the song feel like it's recounting a history even when it isn't spelling one out. So no, the lyrics don't explain a concrete backstory, but they absolutely give you the emotional scaffolding to imagine one.

I still get a little spark when I think about that opening riff — it hit the airwaves in spring 2009. 'again' was released as a single on April 8, 2009, and it showed up on the Japanese charts immediately after that. In fact, it entered the Oricon weekly singles chart upon release and grabbed the top spot in its debut week; the tie-in as the first opening for 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood' definitely turbocharged its visibility. I was commuting to work when I first noticed how many people were buzzing about it; you could tell from radio playlists and ringtone downloads that it wasn’t just another single. So, short story: its chart debut happened in April 2009 right after the April 8 release, and it opened very strong on Oricon, marking one of YUI’s biggest commercial moments up to that point.

I still get chills when the opening for 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood' hits that first guitar riff of 'Again' by YUI. The song is used as the anime's first opening (episodes 1–14), and the animation pairs really well with the lyrics: the quieter verses show close-ups and reflective moments—Edward and Alphonse in introspective poses, transmutation circles, and flashback-like imagery—while the chorus bursts into fast-paced action shots of fights, alchemy bursts, and brief reveals of major players. Those lyrical punches line up with quick cuts to characters like Roy Mustang, Winry, Scar, and several homunculi, which makes the emotional surge feel earned. My favorite bit is how the visuals treat the lines about starting over: the Gate imagery, symbolic alchemical circles, and scenes of rubble or ruined cities get a little more screen time there. If you pay attention, the opening doesn’t just show highlights—it narrates the brothers’ journey in micro: loss, resolve, conflict, and the push toward an uncertain future. It’s one of those openings I rewatch just to feel that combination of music and montage again.