User blog comment:BannedLagiacrus/Monster Appreciation Week: Anjanath/@comment-31029678-20180317070036/@comment-30624219-20180317162417

Technically, people disliked lagia in Mh3 cause of the awful swimming mechanics(Still love water so want it back someday) but it was a new type of thing, a sea serpent that was basically the stand-out leviathan before Mizutsune so it got flagship. They probably base it off japan popularity charts too though and one video by Tokyosaurus showed nergi was the most popular there.