Useless Lesson #2

地域最強と名高い不良エリート校、

地域最強　ちいきさいきょう　chiiki-saikyou
"Region's Strongest"
Note: 地域 means "region". 強 means physical strength (more specific than the general 力), and 最 forms a superlative of an adjective. So 最強 is "strongest", 最高 is "highest", and so forth.

名高い　なだかい　nadakai
"Famous"
Note: 名 is a general character meaning "name", while 高い means "high". A more common word for fame is 有名 (ゆうめい).

不良　ふりょう　furyou
"Delinquent"
Note: 不 means "not" and 良 means "good", so 不良 can mean anything from "not good" to "defective". Where thuggish schools students are concerned, it also means "delinquent".

Translation:
"The region's strongest school is the infamous Furyou Elite School,"

I wouldn't change "furyou" into something else, because it's the proper name for the school (only a clever translation would suffice, but I'm not feeling particularly clever right now). We can convey the idea of "delinquency" by changing "famous" to "infamous",



硬派の伝統復活に燃える下級生による突き上げに湧く古豪校、

硬派　こうは　kouha
"Stalwarts"
Note: 硬 means "hard" or "tough" (the opposite of soft), while 派 means "faction". "Stalwarts" is just something I picked out of the dictionary, but you can just think of it as "steadfast people".

伝統　でんとう　dentou
"Tradition"
Note: 伝 can mean "tradition" or "method", though it's most often seen in the word 伝説 (legendary story/ legend). 統 is used with other words to convey "unity".

復活　ふうかつ  fuukatsu
"Revival"
Note: 復 is one of many words which can mean "again" or "re-". 活 means "life" as in "lifestyle", "living" and so on.

燃える　もえる   moeru
"To get fired up"
Note: Any time you have excitable people full of testosterone, you are bound to have 燃える, which literally means "burn up". It's often used in the figurative sense, like "his spirit is on fire".

下級生　かきゅせい   kakyusei
"Underclassman"
Note: 下 means "down" or "under", while 級 refers to "grade". 生 you'll remember from the first lesson, can mean student. So this refers to students in lower grades.

突き上げ　つきあげ   tsukiage
"Push Up"
Note: At least in videogames, 突き is often used to mean "thrust", as in "thrusting a spear". 上げ is a very important word that forms many, many compound verbs, adding a sense of direction to the first verb.

湧く　わく   waku
"Feel Emotional"
Note: Technically 湧く means to "gush", but I believe it's more commonly used to show that someone is feeling strongly about something (as in, the figurative sense of "gushing").

古豪　こごう   kogou
"Veteran"
Note: 古 means "ancient". 豪 is used to mean "great", in the sense of "he was a great warrior" and "war does not make one great". "Great" can also mean extreme, so it's not necessarily "he was a great person". It could also be, "he was a serious fool". 豪 is also the same as 偉, though they sometimes appear in different places (there may be a serious difference, but I haven't found one).

Translation:
"Kogou School, with a strong tradition of courage and fortitude that ignites passion in its students."

This is far from a literal translation, but there is an awful lot to unpack in that statement. The general meaning is that it's a school that harkens back to "when men were men"... though I'm not a fan of that exact phrasing.

大海の広さを知らずイキがるセレブ校、

大海　おおうみ　ooumi
"Ocean"
Note: 大 means big and 海 means ocean.

広さ　ひろさ　hirosa
"Depth"
Note: This refers to physical size.

知らず　しらず　shirazu
"Not knowing"
Note: 知 or 知る is "knowledge". あず is like a colloquial version of "doesn't", so this refers to something which isn't known.

イキ（粋）がる　いきがる
"To act cool/strong"
Note: While this word technically means "cool" or "stylish", it's most commonly used as an insult, like, "don't try to be so cool", as opposed to, "he's so cool".

Translation:
"Celeb School, where the student's style knows no bounds."

Here I'm taking the literal, "not knowing the depth of the ocean" to mean "knows no bounds". This game does take place by the ocean though, so maybe... ahhh probably not. Celeb is a direct translation.

２人のトップ争いの中、勢力を二分するマンモス校

二分する　にぶんする　nibun-suru
"Divided in half"
Note: 分 can mean a minute, but it can also mean "half". する is a word that can turn nouns into verbs, by conveying the meaning "to do". So "to halves something" becomes "divide in half".

Translation:
You may have noticed most of these words were in the first lesson.
~の中 just means "in ~", so 争いの中 means "in a conflict".
The phrasing is awkward (well, normal for Japanese), so I'd translate it like this:

"Mammoth School, where influence is divided between two rival students."

I figure that "top two" is redundant, because who else would the influence be divided between? Not the bottom two students! Saying that they are rivals clears up the idea that they are in conflict with one another.***

そして混迷を機に地域制圧に乗り出す新興校。

混迷　こんめい   konmei
"Chaos"
Note: 混 is a mix or a crowd, while 迷 is general confusion (again, video game fans have probably come across something called 迷いの森, the forest of confusion).

機に。。。乗り出す　きに。。。のりだす　kini...noridasu
"To take advantage of"
Note: 機 is an opportunity, while 乗り出す means "to set out" (乗り is 'ride' and 出す means 'go out'). Combining these makes a phrase that means 'go out for an opportunity', or 'take advantage of a situation'. In the text, this phrase has been split to describe what the actual opportunity is.

制圧　せいあつ　seiatsu
"Conquer"
Note: 制 is a system, such as a government, while 圧 is many things, including "oppress".

新興　しんこう　shinkou
"Emerging"
Note: 興 means "rise", while 新 means "new".

Translation:
"And Shinkou School, who are using the chaotic situation to take control."

Not the best interpretation, but I'm tired.