Useless Lesson #3

各校の争いに加え、関成エリアの繁華街には抗争に花火を散らす２つのチーム、

各校　かっこう　kakkou

"Each School"

Note: 各 means "each".

加え　くわえ

"In addition"

Note: 加 means 'add'.

関成エリア

This is the district where the game takes place.

繁華街　はんかがい

"Business District"

Note: 繁華 can mean "prosperity" or "busy", as in something that is seeing a lot of action. 街 can refer to a "street" or area of town.

抗争　こうそう

"Feud"

Note: 抗 means "against". This is another way to say "conflict".

花火　はなび

"Fireworks"

Note: 花 means flower, and 火 means fire. You know, when fireworks explode they look kind-of like a flower? Maybe? Well, that's where it comes from.

散らす　ちらす

"To Scatter"

Note: This means to scatter or spread, but 花火を散らす is a figurative phrase which I believe is something like the Japanese version of "shots fired", or more plainly, "start argument(s)".

Translation:

"In addition to the schools in conflict, the Sekinari region's business district has two feuding teams,"

さらに独立独歩の姿勢を貫く孤高のチームが１つ。

独立独歩　どくりつどっぽ     dokuritsudoppo

"Self-reliance"

Note: 独立 is "independence", while 独歩 means "self-reliance". 独 means "on one's own" and 歩 means "step"- taking steps on your own = self-help.

姿勢　しせい   shisei

"Attitude/Position"

Note: 姿 means "shape". Remember 勢力, which meant "influence"? This word uses that same character, in a little more abstract sense.

貫く　つらぬく   tsuranuku

"To go through"

Note: This is self-explanatory.

孤高　ここう　kokou

"Isolation"

Note: 孤 literally means "orphan".

Translation:

"And one team that is completely independent."

I see no sense in complicating things.

とある理由により、この地域へやってきた主人公●成瀬直人の登場により、阿弥浜では、地域全体を巻き込む抗争が巻き起こることになる。

理由　りゆう　riyuu

"Reason"

Note: 理 and 由 both mean "reason".

主人公　しゅじんこう　shujinkou

"Protagonist"

Note: This is the standard word for "main character". 主人 is a person that's the head of something.

全体　ぜんたい　zentai

"Whole"

Note: 全 means "complete" or "whole", while 体 refers to a "body".

巻き込む　まきこむ    makikomu

"Get wrapped up in"

Note: 込む can mean crowded, or "put in to". 巻き means "wrap up", and is used in many different verb compounds (most often maki-komu), to add the sense that the object of the verb is being rolled up into something beyond its control.

*This is why those rolls of rice and fish wrapped in seaweed are called "maki" or "maki-zushi". This is the most common type of sushi in America, the other common type being 握り, or "nigiri" meaning 'grip', because they form the sushi by gripping the rice in their palm.

巻き起こる　まきおこる　makiokoru

"Incite"

Note: 起こる means "to happen" or "to arise". When combined with 巻き, it means "to give rise to".

Translation:

"With the arrival of the main character, Naruse Naoto to Amahama, the entire region has been thrown into conflict."

There's no need for all the redundancies, the main point is that the main character's arrival has caused all of this conflict to come to a head.

そうして抗争は、戦争状態へと突入りしていく。

戦争　せんそう    sensou

"War"

Note: I already partially explained this, 戦 means battle or war, while 争 can mean competition or conflict.

状態　じょうたい　joutai

"State"

Note:  Both 状 and 態 can refer to something's "shape" or "state". Together with 戦争, this means "a state of war".

突入する　とつにゅうする　totsunyuu-suru

"Go Into"

Note: Remember 突 from 突き上げ? It still means pierce, while 入 means "in".

Translation:

"And with that, the conflict is heading into a state of war."

That's a bit clunky...:

"And now, everyone must prepare for war."

And that's that. Some schools with mildly distinctive characteristics are fighting over stuff, and when some guy named Naoto comes to town, things escalate into an all-out war. That was an awful long trip just to understand that, huh? While the greater part of this information is useless, there are a lot of important words and concepts here that I promise you'll see again and again. Take care, and stay the hell away from machine translations!

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.

Useless Lesson #1

There is this long running video-game series in Japan called, "喧嘩番長" (lit. 'Fight Captain'), which involves a bunch of high-school punks beating on each other. The fifth game in the series is being released soon, and Spike (the game's developer), has added a bit of information on the game to their official website. You can find the text below in the website by clicking this link, and then the word STORY: http://kenkabancho.com/bancho05/


転校生●成瀬直人の登場で、
勢力争いは激化する！！

Vocab:

転校生　てんこうせい　tenkousei
"Exchange Student"
Note: 転校 is "to change schools", while 生 can be used in compounds to refer to students.

登場　とうじょう　toujyou
"Appearance"
Note: This is actually a fairly common word. 登 is usually used in words to mean "ascent", while 場 (a very important kanji) is used to mean "place" or "location", or even "stage" (as in a theater stage).

勢力　せいりょく　seiryoku
"Influence"
Note: 勢 means "force" or "momentum". There are many attribute words that use 力, which means "power" or "strength". 能力 (ability) 、魅力 (charm/appeal) 、etc.

争い　あらそい　arasoi
"Competition"
Note: This word can actually be translated as "battle", though it is not exclusively a violent war, like 戦い　(tatakai) suggests. There is an understanding that 争い can become a violent conflict.

激化　げきか　gekika
"Escalate"
Note: Technically this means "aggravate", as in "aggravating a situation". In the case of an ongoing conflict, it can be used as "escalate".

Translation:

Literally: "Transfer Student Naruse Naoto's appearance aggravates the influence battle!"

And that is why you never translate something literally. At least now you have an understanding of what is being said, but how would you say that in English? I suggest:

"The battle for influence escalates with transfer student Naruse Naoto's arrival on the scene!"

This is still clunky, and falls back on the presumption that you know what a battle for influence is. As it stands, Japanese gamers always take for granted that where there are transfer students and rival schools, there is bound to be a battle for influence. For those who don't know that, I'd say:

"Things start to really heat up when Naruse Naoto bursts onto the scene!"

I suggest this, because the fact that Naoto is a transfer student really doesn't have any implications to most Western people. Nobody needs to know about the battle for influence; one thing we can take for granted is that people already know "things" are happening, otherwise there wouldn't be a game.

整備された港湾施設や華やかな街並み、そして庶民的な住宅地と、さまざまな景観の調和が印象的な阿弥浜沿線。

整備された　せいびされた　seibisareta
"Maintained"
Note: された is attached to certain words to show that they have been completed.

港湾施設　こうわんしせつ　kouwan-shisetsu
"Harbor"
Note: 港湾 or 港 is "harbor". 湾 is the seaside. 施設 (very important word) means facility. "Harbor facility" is a little redundant.

華やかな　はなやかな　hanayakana
"Bright/Gorgeous"
Note: 華 is another word for "flower", but can be used to mean beauty, by extension of the notion that flowers are beautiful. な is just used to mark this word as an adjective.

街並み　まちなみ　machinami
"Town"
Note: 街 means "street", but can refer to towns or hamlets as well.

庶民的な　しょみんてき　shomintekina
"Folksy"
Note: 庶民 or 庶民的 are the "townsfolk". な makes this word an adjective which you might translate as "townsy", but for the fact that townsy isn't a word. Folksy is a decent interpretation.

住宅地　じゅたくち　jyutakuchi
"Residential Area"
Note: 住宅 is a "residence", while 地 is "earth" or "land".

景観　けいかん　keikan
"Scenery"

調和　ちょうわ　chouwa
"Harmony"
Note: 和, in many compounds, means "peace".

印象的　いんしょうてき　inshouteki
"Impressive"
Note: 印象 is "impression". 的, which you're probably noticed a lot of, turns a noun into a characteristic (adjective). Impression + 的 = impressive.

阿弥浜沿線
Note: This is the name of the place where the game takes place.
*I just call it Amihama-ensen, but the actual name could differ.

Translation:
This sentence does little more than describe a location. It goes out of its way to stress what a calm and wonderful place it is. I would shorten it to:

"Amihama-ensen is a quaint harbor city with beautiful scenery."

さまざま means "many", and in this sentence, "many" refers to "how much impressive scenery there is". You could also translate it as, "there are many impressive sights to see", but I'd have to actually play the game to know if that was an accurate assessment. From the screenshots I've seen, it looks fairly ordinary. "Quaint", might be the wrong word to use here, because in the west we think of "quaint" as a little row of cottages, while this game is actually about a fairly large city that just happens to have nice scenery. We could revise it as:

"Amihama-ensen is a quiet harbor city with beautiful scenery."


現在ここ阿弥浜沿線には、５つの高校、３つのチームが存在し、互いに牽制しあっている。

現在　げんざい　genzai
"Now"
Note: As in, "right now". 現 means "current", while 在 means "here". You could translate 現在 as "the here and the now", but how often does anyone say that in real life?

高校　こうこう　koukou
"High School"
Note: This word is really important, you'll see it everywhere.

存在　そんざい　sonzai
"Reality"
Note: This is extremely important, whereas we use the word "reality" in English relatively often, it is used in Japanese all the time. It's another way to express the existence of something.

互いに　たがいに　tagai-ni
"Mutually"
Note: 互い means "mutual" or "mutually", referring to something that all those involved are doing.

牽制　けんせい　kensei
"Check"
Note: This can mean "restrain" or "diversion" or "feint", but when combined with 互い, it refers more to supervision. As in, "all of these things are keeping each other in check".

Translation:
"Amihama-ensen currently has five schools, and three teams that keep each other in check."

Wait, what the hell is a "team"!? It's not a sports team, that's for sure. In this case, a "team" is like a gang. This will make more sense later, but for now:

"Amihama-ensen currently has five schools and three gangs vying for power."

"Keep each other in check" is still a literal translation, but if you remember the tagline at the top, there was a so-called, "battle of influence" going on. This is an easy way to slip that idea in, without losing the notion that none of the gangs have gained control yet.