Quote:
Originally Posted by blue_sora
Yay I'm happy that Fate/Zero got great reception in Japan! Ah, people really love those Waver/Rider duo! I wonder how the female one goes, somehow I got the feeling that Saber and Irisviel will be on top 
Here's a Fate/Zero character popularity contest in a shop that shown in seventhstyle post. The dots behind the picture is the votes and command seals represents favourite teams:
It seems that the favourite team is Waver/Rider. For characters, with rough glance from me Saber is the winner, followed closely either by Gilgamesh, Lancer or Rider. Surprisingly Kariya is the second favourite master behind Waver, even with the less screentime compared with other masters. Even Tokiomi in the basement scenes have a lot more screentime than him. |
It's obvious that the male otaku vote to Saber and the female fujoshi vote to Waver. Those are the largest demographics Fate/Zero captured last time I checked.
It's interesting how on the Servant side, things are pretty even, with Saber getting a bit of an edge. Probably because the otaku only got an option and the fujoshi have more than one choice (Berserker would probably get more votes once he has more exposure and doesn't wear a helmet). While the Master side seems to be a one side domination by Waver.
Wouldn't be so sure about Irisviel's+Saber's triumph in the master/servant convo, other polls have Rider and Waver in there, but Iri is tragically absent. Waver and Rider seem to be the breakout duo in Japan.
Edit: Btw, if people wanted a visualization of scenes involving Kariya Suffering the Anime cut. Here, from the manga: