In the hit cooking anime show Food Wars!, Megumi Tadokoro is a character who struggled with self-confidence and familial loyalty, and has a character arc that makes her a delight to watch for many viewers.
The protagonist is Soma Yukihira, the son of a diner owner, but he is largely a vehicle for the show's cool cooking scenes and innovative ideas. It's the characters around him who grow and mature as people, such as Erina Nakiri learning to break free of her father's tyrannical grip and create her own future with her own power. Megumi has an arc somewhat like that, too.
Her Inner Strength Blossoms
When Megumi first appeared, she was a shy, meek student who was on the verge of expulsion from Totsuki. Despite her legitimate and hard-earned cooking experience from back home in the Tohoku region, Megumi failed to translate that experience into good grades or assertive dishes for class, and she had already accepted the "fact" that she was unfit for this culinary school. Megumi was nearly in tears from disappointment, but she saw no way out of it. Then she met Soma Yukihira, the boy who draws out the best in everyone.
Megumi became Soma's friend, and was soon shocked, confused, amused then inspired by her classmate's creative and assertive ways in the kitchen. Megumi soon learned what true confidence in the kitchen looked like, and she began to follow his example. Megumi always had the potential to be a great cook, and now, at last, it was being unlocked and brought into the light. She faced steep odds during Chef Shinomiya's vegetable-based cooking test during the "hell week" camping trip at the Totsuki resort, and she boldly used improvised methods to try and pass the test. When she was failed for breaking the test's terms, she and Soma challenged Shinomiya to a Shokugeki, and Megumi was put in the spotlight as her team's lead chef. Soma could only follow her orders, nothing more.
The vegetable terrine that Megumi presented was inferior to Shinomiya's, but the sheer grit, enthusiasm and optimism that fueled its creation greatly inspired the judges and, most significantly, Shinomiya himself. Shinomiya had hit a plateau recently, while Megumi was asserting herself at last and reaching for the stars with all her might. Moved by this, Shinomiya revoked Megumi's expulsion and wished her luck.
Tournament-Worthy Megumi
The Autumn Election was a tournament for only the best of the best, and armed with her home-style cooking and newfound confidence, Megumi earned a slot in the eight-man tournament alongside heavy hitters like Akira Hayama, Alice Nakiri and Ryo Kurokiba. Although Megumi ultimately lost to Ryo in a seafood-based match, this was her finest moment by far, demonstrating incredible grit and force of will against a chef who's famous for his aggressive, competitive ways and knockout flavors. In fact, Megumi had all her friends and family from home in the audience, cheering her on whether she won or lost. Later still, Megumi joined the eight-member Rebel team to face Central's chefs in the Regiment de Cuisine, and only narrowly losing to a member of the Council of Ten (Momo Akanegakubo). Megumi lost 2-1, meaning one judge actually ranked Megumi above a super-elite 3rd year student.
Finally, Megumi joined the massive tryouts tournament for earning a slot in the three-man Totsuki team for the BLUE tournament, and Megumi didn't just win; she placed first. She hardly believed it when that spotlight was cast on her, and Soma congratulated her warmly. Now, Megumi is going to the world's premier culinary tournament alongside her friends Soma and Takumi, and as the #10 member of the Council of Ten, no less. This is the power of confidence: it unlocked Megumi's potential and put her in the spotlight, and there's no going back.
How She Cooks
Megumi was raised in a town of fishermen, so naturally, she learned how to cook seafood of all types, anything that the waves could offer. She started early, helping her mother out in the kitchen and absorbing many lessons. She ran into an early obstacle when the fishermen told her that skinning and gutting a monkfish is a man's job, due to the physical strength and stamina necessary for that work. Megumi wasn't so easily deterred; after a lot of practice and strength training, she properly skinned and gutted a monkfish all on her own, an early foundation for her later self-confidence and strength of will. She repeated this act during her Autumn Elections match against Ryo, impressing the judges and audience with her skills handling a monkfish.
In particular, Megumi practices home-style cooking, which is her "thing" at Totsuki. Her food is not aggressive like Ryo's or scientifically prepared like Alice's. Instead, Megumi's dishes are prepared to comfort the diner, and make them feel nostalgic for the joy of being at home with family. It is a gentle sort of strength, and Megumi is quite intuitive and perceptive about what any given diner needs. For example, she once met a rogue American chef with Soma, and she could tell that he was from the American South, probably Louisiana. So, she prepared a gumbo dish for him, and at once, the rambunctious American chef felt like he was back home, like a baby boy being spoon-fed by his mother. With just one gumbo dish, Megumi tamed a seemingly unstoppable rogue, no force necessary.