Depends. I generally prefer anime but for most long runners I read the manga instead and never look at the anime. Stuff like Nanoha I read/watch both because the anime is cool but Vi Vid and Force isn't animated. Eyeshield 21 only manga.
I'm more likely to watch the anime than read the manga, unless I've heard that the manga is much better. Even then, I'll only read a manga if it's been released in English and is either a) short enough that I can justify buying it, or b) available through the Toronto Public Library system. I don't like reading manga on a a computer screen.
If I like an anime, I'll consider reading the manga. (I definitely plan on reading Fullmetal Alchemist and Ouran High School Host Club at some point.) It still has to fit the criteria above though.
edited 30th Jan '11 9:59:02 AM by Nyktos
I guess it is.I usually watch the anime for aesthetic purposes. Or I just do both. (this has also been the case for visual novels and light novels)
If people learned from their mistakes, there wouldn't be this thing called bad habits.Personally I prefer manga. The only anime I watch are adaptations to manga I read or Anime First.
I prefer to read whatever version came first if possible. That said, for Shonen manga, the art often gets so cluttered it's hard to tell what's happening.
edited 30th Jan '11 10:09:52 AM by INUH
Infinite Tree: an experimental storyI tend to prefer anime, but there are reasons to choose the manga instead.
Often the anime changes the story and the manga storyline is considered better (see Soul Eater and the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime for examples- Fullmetal Alchemist was later remade as an anime that stayed true to the manga storyline).
Other times there is the issue of "filler". This is true for most of the long running shounen fighter type anime. Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, all of these have "filler" episodes in the anime, usually to allow the manga to get ahead again so then they can go back to the manga storyline. Earlier anime with this same issue include Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2. It's not unusual for these types of anime for someone to prefer following the manga.
The final one is execution. For example, The World God Only Knows has a good anime adaptation that is faithful (so far) to the storyline, yet for many the manga just manages to pull off some of the execution better- Keima comes across much more strongly as a jerk in the manga- which paradoxically for him makes him more enjoyable in manga form. Now I like the anime adpatation, but so far I'd give the edge to the manga.
Those are the three reasons that I give for choosing the manga adaptation over the anime. Although often I just watch and read both.
edited 30th Jan '11 10:15:03 AM by Sackett
Yeah, I noticed...I think I once tried to wade through a Naruto manga, and it was difficult to tell what was going on. For that reason, I think that for One Piece I'm go try watching the anime first before picking up the manga, which is probably going to be my general approach from now on.
...depending, of course, on what I hear from others about a certain work. If the consensus opinion is that the manga is superior to the anime, or that the anime suffers from excessive Adaptation Decay, I'll go for the manga first (assuming I can find it online or at my local bookstore).
Thanks for the advice, everyone!
No beer?! But if there's no beer, then there's no beef or beans!I personally prefer anime because I get more out of something with color and motion and it's easier to tell what's going on. In the case of things like Soul Eater and FMA...well, Soul Eater was decent enough in anime form so I didn't really mind, and I had the good fortune to get involved with anime late enough in life that FMA Brotherhood was about 1/4 done so I got caught up with that and stuck with it to the end, only now watching the first series that went off and did its own thing. As for long-running shonen stuff, I'm watching Bleach right now and its the only such series I'm interested in, so I really don't have all that much to say about it.
Flora Segunda | World Made By Hand | Monster Blood Tattoo ^You should read these series.Also, this is just my thing, so It might be different for you, but in addition to all the points everyone already mentioned, it depends on the medium on how fast you can move through the plot. I read very fast, so it generally only takes me 3-5 minutes to read a chapter of manga, so depending on the pacing of the show, an episode takes longer for me to view and gets less of the plot covered (For example, the Fairy Tail anime seems to be moving at a 2 chapter per episode pace in the second season so in the 22 minutes it takes to watch an episode, I can move through 4-7 chapters depending.) In cases like that I usually read the manga first, just because I care more about the plot than the fight scenes, but my buddy likes seeing things animated, so in some cases he'll just watch the anime instead of reading the manga.
Though honestly it depends on which one I find first. I watched the Black Cat anime before I found out that it had a manga.
Imagine Rakan applying Calling Your Attacks to doing paperwork.~Anarchy Rakan for the hell of it COMMISSION THIS BRIDGE!~EHKI read the manga first (nearly) always, but will watch the anime if I've heard good things about it. There has not yet been an anime I've watched since the original FMA (ie. not including FMA) that I have not also read the manga for, wit the exception of Haruhi, for which I had already read the light novel.
The general rule of thumb is first version first, unless there's a lot of hullabaloo about Adaptation Distillation. Then it's most critically successful version first or most popular version first.
Of course, there's also available version first which is kind of hard to argue with.
edited 30th Jan '11 4:02:40 PM by Recon5
I gotta say, my strategy for handling things with multiple adaptations, within the general realm of "I don't read manga" is "See what TV Tropes is most complimentary of."
Sometimes I do things quite wrong, sort of. When I found all but the last volume of the Gundam Seed manga at a local library, I started reading it and was hooked. This was an anime that I had been meaning to watch for years, started last year and got probably less than 15 episodes into before prioritizing other things over it, mostly because I didn't like the pacing much and it was in rather bad quality on a glitchy website. I wouldn't say I loved the manga but it was decent enough, and got me through the story so now I know things about it and don't have to dodge around spoilers all the time. But when I went on the work article on the wiki, I saw that under Adaptation Decay they kind of slammed it. I guess I could see its weaknesses, but I still don't regret my decision.
Also, OP, if you start reading manga and for whatever reason don't like it that much or have a hard time telling what's going on in the action scenes or something, despite what everyone here is saying, don't feel pressured to keep reading. If you find yourself disliking multiple manga, then it might not be right for you. Most people like it, but I know from my experience that there are always exceptions.
edited 30th Jan '11 4:13:59 PM by frog753
Flora Segunda | World Made By Hand | Monster Blood Tattoo ^You should read these series.With light novels, the problem is that their mostly available to western audiences online, and I don't do so well with reading, or rather, finishing, novels and such online.
And...er...Firo avatar is happy to help!
Flora Segunda | World Made By Hand | Monster Blood Tattoo ^You should read these series.First of all, check otu Baccano and Durarara cause they're both really good, also Elfin Leid is in no way worth your time.
Also I generally just do Anime first then read the manga if the Anime isn't caught up or has a gecko ending.
It's all a matter of personal taste, also in regards to your avi, it's nice to have a fellow FE fan here.
CAUSE EVERY GIRL IS CRAZY 'BOUT A SHARP DRESSED MANI'm an anime fan, not a manga fan, so I'll go in priority for the anime version. There's only a very short list of series where the manga was my priority ; discounting the manga-only series and those that only got adaptations after I'd started reading it (i.e. Wandering Son), that would be... Death Note, Azumanga Daioh and Genshiken — and in the last two cases I'd had a taste of the anime before starting the manga.
I just don't have much interest in manga : it's a less convenient format (either tons of volumes in paper form or tiring to read online), and a lot of what I like about anime (movement and sound) can't be found there.
It really depends on how the adaption was handled... I mean the amount of Adaption Decay that goes into some of the animes around is really into the Wall Banger territory. if there is major decay I wont even bother with the anime and go straight to the manga if there isnt I will hit the Anime first and the manga down the road (Most continue passed where the anime ended).
I majorly regretted the fact I watch Love Hina before I read the manga I didnt bother with it till way later because the Anime was not my fav, it was a total game changer.
I am so glad I read the Negima manga first or else I would be a massive hater of it instead of one of its biggest fans here.
@The OP do watch the Nanoha series though the anime is very good once its Genre Shift is complete the mangas continue the story instead of retell it (most of them)
edited 31st Jan '11 6:24:20 AM by Raso
Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

I just started getting into the whole anime scene; right now I'm watching One Piece and Hellsing, and later this year I plan on checking out Yu Yu Hakusho, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, and maybe Elfen Lied.
After telling my friend that I was watching One Piece, he told me that I should read the manga. He said something along the lines of, "It's OK if you watch the anime now, but the manga typically has less filler and is farther ahead in the storyline."
So I'm asking for your opinions; what's the best way to approach a particular anime? Do you watch the anime first and then read the manga, or vice versa?
No beer?! But if there's no beer, then there's no beef or beans!