| Megumi Kitagawa | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kanji | 北川 めぐみ | |
| Romanji | Kitagawa Megumi | |
| Also known as | Megu-tan | |
| Characteristics | ||
| Age | 17 | |
| Gender | Female | |
| Height | 165 cm | |
| Personal Status | ||
| School | Toumei High School | |
| Occupation | High School Student Amateur model | |
| First appearance | ||
| Anime Debut | Episode 6 | |
| Voices | ||
| Seiyū | Minako Kotobuki (Japanese) Emily Neves (English) | |
“I work hard to make others happy, and I value them. What’s wrong with protecting myself?”
- Megumi Kitagawa to Kai Takemura in Episode 11.
Megumi Kitakawa (北川 めぐみ Kitagawa Megumi) is a secondary character featured in Say “I love you.”She is an amateur model and transfer student who was placed in Yamato's class.
Appearance
Megumi is a beautiful teenage girl with light brown, curly hair with bangs covering her forehead and big brown eyes. She originally had long hair, which she usually kept in ponytail, but she later cut her hair short in order to stay more true to herself.
As expected from a model, Megumi has a slim body and it has been noted by many, that she is fairly tall compared to the Japanese standard.
Personality
Megumi originally had a very out-going and bubbly personality. She treated everyone with kindness, even people she wasn't very fond of (such as Mei). It’s later revealed that she uses that happy facade to cover how insecure she actually is, due to being bullied for her appearance in her childhood. When being called out on for “being fake" (even by people she considered friends) Megumi simply pretends not to hear it, but it actually affects her a lot.
She believes that she has to work harder that everyone else, or else no one will treat her as an equal. In desperation of keeping her "so-called friends" around, Megumi tried to bribe them with expensive goods, exclusive parties and fashion shows, but that only resulted in pushing them futher away from her. This revealed a vile side of Megumi, where she deliberately tried to exclude anyone who dares to go against her will, until she eventually broke down from the pressure.
Despite being frequently told how beautiful, talented and amazing she is, Megumi seems to have a very hard time believing those words. She doesn’t think anyone needs her, and she is shown questioning herself of why she isn’t capable of accepting herself.
Afterwards, Megumi developed a much more strong and mature personality, promising herself to live a much more open and honest life. She cut her hair short, in order to prove this.
History
When Megumi was younger, her classmates would mock her for her long legs and make remarks about how ugly and plain she was. She was always seen in the back of the classroom; when somebody asked why, one of her friends stated it was because she was the poorest and ugliest of the class. After tiring out of the insults, Megumi one day tries to use her mom's makeup to make herself beautiful. This resulted in her friends not recognizing her and trying to become her friend.
Plot
Megumi was introduced to Yamato when she went to karaoke place with her friends. She showed interest in him and asked if she could be his girlfriend, but he instantly refuses by saying he is already dating someone. Despite this, Megumi transfers to Toumei High School to be closer to him.
Megumi asks Yamato to be a model, which he is quite hesitant towards at first. She asked Mei about it, who was surprisingly supporting despite how much she didn't like it internally. During a photo shoot Yamato does with Megumi, people comment on how good they look together and say that they should become a real couple. This causes Mei to cry silently.
Realizing it is not enough to separate them both, Megumi begins to spread rumors about Mei and Kai talking about sex to Yamato, resulting in him being shocked and avoiding Mei. Soon after this, Megumi starts to invite Yamato to her house to have dinner everyday without realizing that some people from her school are watching them.
News about Yamato visiting Megumi's house spread quickly, leaving Mei shocked and hurt. Megumi even goes so far at to say that she loves Yamato in an interview with a magazine. While Megumi does not state that she is in love with Yamato specifically, Mei reads the interview and knows she is speaking about him. Mei then decides to go home.
Megumi later asks her childhood friend, Momoko, to help her isolate Mei even further. However, Momoko refuses. Megumi says that Momoko is a betrayer, and refuses to talk to her further. One day, she reads about people saying negative things about her, leaving her depressed. Shortly after, she refuses to talk to anyone.
Yamato receives a call from the model agency asking him about Megumi's whereabouts. He looks worried and asking permission from Mei to go to her house, which she grants immediately. Halfway there, he meets Momoko and the two walk together to Megumi's house. Shortly after, Megumi starts to cry when she sees the two in front of her house. Momoko and Megumi reconcile.
Later, Megumi joins a culture festival where she become one of the candidates. If she wins, she'll be allowed to go on a date with Yamato. Of course, she is very excited about this. In the end she wins the competition and asks Mei if it is alright to go for a date with Yamato. Mei replies that it is okay. They went for a date, and Megumi realizes that even though they are so close, Yamato was still not looking at her. He is thinking only of Mei. She decided to give up on him, but before she does so she asks Yamato to take a picture with her.
Relationships
Yamato Kurosawa
Megumi first met Yamato at a staircase, the day she just transferred to Tomei High School. She immediately fell for his good looks and shamelessly asked him to be her boyfriend, when they met again in front of the school, but Yamato naturally declined.
The next day, Megumi apologized to him, saying she didn’t realize he already had a serious girlfriend and the two agreed to get along as fellow classmates. However, Megumi secretly haven’t given up on him. She started to approach him,this time pretending to just be his friend, introducing him to modelling and inviting him over to her apartment. But in the end, all of her efforts failed.
Megumi and Yamato's photo from the purikura booth in Chapter 33.
When Megumi locked herself up in her apartment, Yamato played a major role with helping her get better. While there was a possibly she only had interest in his appearance only at first, Megumi might've actually had a small crush on Yamato. This is hinted at by how she blushed when asking him to continue visiting her house.
After the culture festival, where Megumi and Yamato had to go on a date with each other in Chapter 33, it’s officially shown how Megumi finally came to terms with her feelings towards him. When trying a purikura booth, she jokingly wrote how she got rejected and how much Yamato loves his girlfriend. They two of them now gets perfectly along as fellow classmates and friends.
Mei Tachibana
Right off the bat, Megumi considers Mei her enemy and love rival, believing herself to be deserving of Yamato's affections due to her looks and persona rather than Mei. Despite acting friendly around her, Megumi did not like Mei vey much. At first, it appeared that she was jealous of Mei, solely because of her relationship with Yamato, but it’s later revealed that it’s not the case.
In reality, Megumi hated how easily Mei got everything (a boyfriend, loving friends etc.) while she herself had to work so hard for it. Megumi believes that she has to work harder that everyone else, or else no one will treat her as an equal.
Kai Takemura
Kai was one the first people to realize Megumi's true personality. He confronted her about her competition with Mei over Yamato, and about her general feelings about his friend, believing she only did in order to be the center attention. However, Megumi told him that it's not the case. Kai encouraged her to apply her focus on her work instead.
The manga and OVA hints at them having feelings for each other, and several characters are shown teasing Megumi about it.
Asami Oikawa
Oikawa is proclaimed by Megumi as her first friend after transferring to Touimei High School. She decides to befriend her and Aiko to try and separate them from Mei in the hopes that she would be lonely and no longer have friends. She tries to 'bribe' Oikawa by giving her a lot of cosmetics and hanging out with her, which she happily accepts. When Oikawa realizes her 'true' plan, Oikawa decides to maintain her relationship with her. Later, Oikawa is seen putting back Megu's table and chair inside despite it being moved by some of the other girls.
Trivia
- Her grandmother is a farmer and sends her a lot of cabbage, which she prefers to eat instead of rice because of how low it is in calories.