Greetings! We have reached the finish line of the 2018 Waifu Madness Tournament! It has been 6 weeks of battles for supremacy for our 64 waifus and now we have our champion. It has been a thrilling ride and I want to thank all of you for taking part. There were a grand total of 1793 votes case throughout the tournament which was way more than what I thought would be cast. The poll was distributed on this blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. The feedback has been great for this event. I hope all of you had fun taking part and have enjoyed following the tournament. So let’s not delay any further and look at the results.
Here are the final results:
4th Place: Lucy Heartfilia (Fairy Tail)
3rd Place Homura Akemi (Madoka Magica)
2nd Place (Saber Fate/Zero)
And that means that the character who won the 2018 Waifu Madness tournament and gains the title of best girl is…
Champion: Rem (Re/Zero)
Here is how the voting played out in the final round.
3rd Place Battle: Homura Akemi (Madoka Magica) 26
vs
Lucy Heartfilia (Fairy Tail) 13
Championship Battle: Rem (Re:Zero) 25
vs
Saber (Fate/Zero) 14
Here is a link to the final bracket for those who are curious:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Rm9BZ3cynhdqBf_TZxC304jiMGvBQN4ZDUZ-xeX-_RE/edit?usp=sharing
And here are the final standings and vote totals for all of the entrants including which round they exited.
| Final Votes | Votes | Exit round | Ranking |
| Rem (Re:Zero) | 132 | Champion | |
| Saber (Fate/Zero) | 117 | Runner Up | |
| Homuar Akemi (Madoka Magica)* (26) | 99 | 3rd Place | Extra votes from 3rd Place Battle in Parenthesis |
| Lucy heartfilia (Fairy Tail)* (13) | 95 | 4th Place | Extra votes from 3rd Place Battle in Parenthesis |
| Ryuuko Matoi (Kill la Kill) | 75 | 4 | 5th Place |
| Rei Ayanami (Neon Genesis Evangelion) | 73 | 4 | 6th Place Tie |
| Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) | 73 | 4 | |
| Ochako Uraraka (My Hero Academia) | 71 | 4 | 7th Place |
| Yoko Littner (Gurren Lagann) | 57 | 3 | 8th Place |
| Asuka Langley Souryuu (Neon Genesis Evangelion) | 54 | 3 | 9th Place |
| Mikasa Ackerman (AOT) | 51 | 3 | 10th Place |
| Chise Hatori (Ancient Magus Bride) | 50 | 3 | 11th Place |
| Holo (Spice & Wolf) | 48 | 3 | 12th Place Tie |
| Megumin (Konosuba) | 48 | 3 | |
| Revy (Black Lagoon) | 47 | 3 | 13th Place |
| Taiga Asaka (Toradora) | 42 | 3 | 14th Place |
| Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell) | 31 | 2 | 15th Place |
| Rin Tohsaka (Fate/Stay Night UBW) | 29 | 2 | 16th Place (Tie) |
| Umi Sonoda (Love Live!) | 29 | 2 | |
| Asada Shino (Sinon) (SAO) | 29 | 2 | |
| Celty Sturluson (Durarara!) | 25 | 2 (Tie Breaker) | 17th Place (Tie) |
| Sakura Haruno (Naruto) | 25 | 2 | |
| Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail) | 24 | 2 | 18th Place (Tie) |
| Winry (FMA Brotherhood) | 24 | 2 | |
| Kana (Miss Kobayahi’s Dragon Maid) | 24 | 2 | |
| Yuri Nakamura (Angel Beats!) | 24 | 2 | |
| Mako Mankanshoko (Kill la Kill) | 24 | 2 | |
| Mikoto Misaka (A Certain Scientific Railgun) | 24 | 2 | |
| Mirai Kuriyama (Beyond the Boundary) | 21 | 2 | 19th Place (Tie) |
| Akatsuki (Log Horizon) | 21 | 2 | |
| Kurisu Makise (Steins; Gate) | 21 | 2 | |
| Erina Nakiri (Food Wars!) | 17 | 2 | 20th Place (Tie) |
| Sakura Kinomoto (Card Captor Sakura) | 12 | 1 (Tie Breaker) | |
| Nico Yazawa (Love Live!) | 11 | 1 (Tie Breaker) | 21st Place (Tie) |
| Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop) | 11 | 1 | |
| Madoka Kaname (Madoka Magica) | 11 | 1 | |
| Yuno Gasai (The Future Diary) | 10 | 1 | 22nd Place (Tie) |
| Diane (The Seven Deadly Sins) | 10 | 1 | |
| Emilia (Re:Zero) | 10 | 1 | |
| Bulma (Dragonball Z) | 10 | 1 | |
| Haruhi Fujioka (Ouran High School Host Club) | 10 | 1 | |
| Yuki Nagato (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) | 10 | 1 | |
| Sasha Blouse (AOT) | 10 | 1 | |
| Aqua (Konosuba) | 10 | 1 | |
| Hifumi Takimoto (New Game!) | 10 | 1 | |
| Asuna Yuuki(SAO) | 10 | 1 | |
| Rize (Is this Order a Rabbit?) | 9 | 1 | 23rd Place (Tie) |
| Bishamon (Noragami) | 9 | 1 | |
| Sena Kashiwazaki (Haganai) | 9 | 1 | |
| Kuroko Shirai (A Certain Scientific Railgun) | 9 | 1 | |
| Megumi Tadokoro (Food Wars!) | 8 | 1 | 24th Place (Tie) |
| Kanade Tachibana (Angel Beats!) | 8 | 1 | |
| Darkness (Konosuba) | 8 | 1 | |
| Eru Chitanda (Hyouka) | 8 | 1 | |
| Konata Izumi (Lucky Star) | 7 | 1 | 25th Place (Tie) |
| Nadeshiko Kagamihara (Yuru Camp) | 7 | 1 | |
| Nao Tomori (Charlotte) | 7 | 1 | |
| Akko Kagari (Little Witch Academia) | 6 | 1 | 26th Place (Tie) |
| Selesia Upitiria (Re:Creators) | 6 | 1 | |
| Sakura Chiyo (Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun) | 5 | 1 | 27th Place (Tie) |
| Megumi Kato (Saekano) | 5 | 1 | |
| Yozora Mikazuki (Haganai) | 5 | 1 | |
| Meteora Ossterich (Re:Creators) | 5 | 1 | |
| Hotaru Shidare (Dagashi Kashi) | 3 | 1 | 28th Place |
Also for those who are curious here are the contestants ordered by their popularity on MyAnimeList with the favorites count listed to the right. These are arranged in order of favorites count and obviously these are not necessarily the top 64 on MyAnimeList.
| Kurisu Makise (Steins; Gate) | 28038 |
| Rem (Re:Zero) | 24437 |
| Yuno Gasai (The Future Diary) | 24382 |
| Taiga Asaka (Toradora) | 22931 |
| Mikasa Ackerman (AOT) | 21956 |
| Saber (Fate/Zero) | 20544 |
| Holo (Spice & Wolf) | 19747 |
| Asuna Yuuki(SAO) | 17646 |
| Homura Akemi (Madoka Magica)* (26) | 16547 |
| Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) | 15289 |
| Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail) | 14347 |
| Megumin (Konosuba) | 14288 |
| Revy (Black Lagoon) | 12888 |
| Konata Izumi (Lucky Star) | 13700 |
| Asuka Langley Souryuu (Neon Genesis Evangelion) | 13603 |
| Kanade Tachibana (Angel Beats!) | 11735 |
| Mikoto Misaka (A Certain Scientific Railgun) | 10534 |
| Rei Ayanami (Neon Genesis Evangelion) | 9178 |
| Rin Tohsaka (Fate/Stay Night UBW) | 9132 |
| Ryuuko Matoi (Kill la Kill) | 9017 |
| Emilia (Re:Zero) | 8940 |
| Yuki Nagato (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) | 8280 |
| Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell) | 8220 |
| Lucy Heartfilia (Fairy Tail) | 5911 |
| Celty Sturluson (Durarara!) | 5628 |
| Mirai Kuriyama (Beyond the Boundary) | 5532 |
| Asada Shino (Sinon) (SAO) | 5414 |
| Kana (Miss Kobayahi’s Dragon Maid) | 5237 |
| Haruhi Fujioka (Ouran High School Host Club) | 5187 |
| Yoko Littner (Gurren Lagann) | 5138 |
| Madoka Kaname (Madoka Magica) | 4982 |
| Sakura Kinomoto (Card Captor Sakura) | 4979 |
| Mako Mankanshoko (Kill la Kill) | 4706 |
| Nico Yazawa (Love Live!) | 4667 |
| Nao Tomori (Charlotte) | 4404 |
| Eru Chitanda (Hyouka) | 4400 |
| Megumi Kato (Saekano) | 4338 |
| Sakura Haruno (Naruto) | 3668 |
| Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop) | 2971 |
| Sena Kashiwazaki (Haganai) | 2945 |
| Aqua (Konosuba) | 2911 |
| Sasha Blouse (AOT) | 2888 |
| Ochako Uraraka (My Hero Academia) | 2687 |
| Yuri Nakamura (Angel Beats!) | 2570 |
| Erina Nakiri (Food Wars!) | 2550 |
| Winry (FMA Brotherhood) | 2452 |
| Umi Sonoda (Love Live!) | 2319 |
| Darkness (Konosuba) | 2246 |
| Akatsuki (Log Horizon) | 2133 |
| Sakura Chiyo (Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun) | 2100 |
| Megumi Tadokoro (Food Wars!) | 1856 |
| Akko Kagari (Little Witch Academia) | 1795 |
| Hifumi Takimoto (New Game!) | 1786 |
| Chise Hatori (Ancient Magus Bride) | 1627 |
| Kuroko Shirai (A Certain Scientific Railgun) | 1485 |
| Bishamon (Noragami) | 1370 |
| Yozora Mikazuki (Haganai) | 1187 |
| Hotaru Shidare (Dagashi Kashi) | 884 |
| Bulma (Dragonball Z) | 780 |
| Diane (The Seven Deadly Sins) | 742 |
| Nadeshiko Kagamihara (Yuru Camp) | 646 |
| Rize (Is this Order a Rabbit?) | 468 |
| Meteora Ossterich (Re:Creators) | 292 |
| Selesia Upitiria (Re:Creators) | 215 |
So our little sample poll matched up fairly well with what the community thinks. Our winner was the 2nd highest ranked character among the group and many of the more popular characters amongst this event are also high on the MyAnimeList. It is interesting the Kurisu Makise, who is on the top the MyAnimeList list, only made it to round 2. Goes to show the difference the results can be based on the group of people.
As for any trends, it seems like we had a tendency to vote more for characters from older more established franchises. Out of the top 16, only Ochako, Chise, and Rem were from series which started after 2015. I honestly thought that there would be a trend towards newer characters especially with the constant turnover in anime. Yes a newer character won the overall tournament but as can be seen by the MyAnimeList results, she is an immensely popular character.
Also it was cool to see that many of my favorite characters survived to the later rounds. While I know I don’t need justification for my picks. It is cool to know that many others enjoy the same characters I do.
A big thanks to all of those who voted and to those who helped spread the word about this event. You have helped to make this a big success. This was a lot of fun to be apart of and the results were certainly fascinating to look at. Some characters which I would have thought would have made a huge splash lost in the early rounds and a couple of surprises survived to the late rounds. I fully intend to do this again- likely next spring with hopefully a way to include more people in the selection process for the characters. Any suggestions or input on this would be appreciated. Also I am considering doing a best boy tournament in the fall and want to know if the readers would be interested in taking part in that. If you have any thoughts on the results or any character suggestions for the next tournament please comment below. You can also message me on Facebook (Railgunfan75’s Geek Blog) or Twitter (@railgunfan75). So until next time, this is Railgunfan75 signing off and saying see you next time!
railgunfan75's Geek blog 
Woo, Rem is pretty good waifu material
Most definitely. Not a bad choice by the voters.
I’m disappointed in Selesia Upitiria’s showing! And Meteora Ossterich did only a tiny bit better. Sigh! But I have to whole-heartedly endorse the winner. Thanks for running this — it was fun!
I agree. I was also disappointed that those two didn’t do better as they are both amazing characters.
I was happy to do this as I had a blast too. I will certainly do this again next spring and am bouncing around the idea of doing a best boy tournament in the fall. Glad you enjoyed it!
I like that idea!
Awesome to hear! I’m working out a way to get the readers involved in the selection process for future tournaments! If you have any suggestions let me know.