Depends.
But, if I'm short on time, I'll Watch anime first, read manga later.
Otherwise I'll go with what I get my hands on first, by that I mean, What(Anime or Manga) I've found first while hunting for something new to Read or Watch.

@lambchopsil - Unfair! Maybe. But, in norm, most people always love(and choose) the coolest way of doing things. And that doesn't go otherwise for Badass Masterminds(or random regular thugs on the streets maybe).

The question is, is only the manga "reportedly good", or the anime as well? If the anime is good, I'll just watch it, and screw the manga. But if the anime has bad reviews, then I will never watch it, and just read the manga. I would never do both, unless the anime ended before the manga did. Then I'd just pick up the manga where the anime left off.

Read manga first, then IF it seems like it could be a good anime and/or I've heard good things about the anime, I watch the anime later. Not directly after reading the manga, a few months to years later usually.

Lots of things factor into this one, for me, so I can't really vote on the poll.

1. Which is the original medium? I prefer the original.

2. The primary genre(s). If it's action/adventure, sports, supernatural/fantasy, horror, sci-fi, or mystery, I opt for the anime. If it's romance, slice-of-life, school-life or comedy, the manga.

3. If there are too many episodes in the anime (ie: more than 1-3 25-episode seasons or its equivalent), I'd go for the manga because my bandwidth usage has a monthly limit.

Though there are exceptions to all the above, they're the general points I go by when deciding between the manga and the anime, provided they both follow the same plot. If the plot differs, of course, it's a no-brainer: I go for the one with the better plot.

It depends which was first. If it was a manga, I'd read it first and maybe watch the anime later. If it was an anime, I would probably skip the manga.

Smirking isn´t as badass as some of you think as it is usually a trope underlings and half-strong characters engage in so i as you all the question Why So Serious?

Our overlord left out the option which is the originating source so i have to sustain this time. Manga is the superior medium of the 2 as imagination and skill are usually the only budgetary constrain with comics but that doesn´t relay help me so i can only repeat that the source wins in 98% of all cases in any medium.

I generally watch the anime and if it is good enough I also read the manga, light novel and visual novel...
It does happen that I stumble upon a great manga and read it without even knowing there is an anime, YKK is a good example. It isn't something I check for, I check for the medium I want at that time and don't really care about original version.

Anime, since I enjoy hearing voice acting and music. I often find English subtitles more enjoyable to read than the manga translations.

No choices are suitable for me:

Read or watch adaptation (whichever it is) first, the original later.

Few of you realize what "all other things being equal" means or have read my initial news post

I always watch the anime first, and then, if I like the anime I'll read the manga.
Some mangas don't have animes, most of them actually, so it depends... if it's a manga I like or a mangaka I like, I read the manga before watching the anime.

For a new series that has both id usually "Watch anime first, read manga later". I would do this cause reading the manga first is always more of a gamble. This is cause the manga version is usually done better them the anime (cause they arent always faithful to the manga). Some time the anime does the light novel adaptation better than the manga though. Over all this means that if i read a great manga than go to the anime, if it doesnt do things right or undercuts the manga, than i usually get mad or disappointed. Its easier to watch the anime then read a better manga than vise versa.

A few recent examples of why it sucks to do the opposite is the mangas of Tokyo Ghoul, Akame Ga Kill and Gate Jietai Tatakeri. These are 3 that i read right before the anime came out and was amazed by how great is was. This mad my expectations for the anime really high. All for it to come crashing down once i watched the anime. Tokyo ghouls first series skipped a bunch of stuff and its second series completely butchered it. Akame ga kill strayed from the manga for a lesser outcome and Gate completely remade the series into a cookie cutter, moe harem manga when it was way more. These are examples of how reading the manga first might ruin an anime. The opposite usually wouldnt affect me that much. Id just be like "oh this would have been better".

If it's shoujo, I read the manga first, then decide if I need / want to watch the anime.

If it's shounen, I might sample the manga, but usually just end up watching the anime.

In my opinion, shoujo often loses something in the translation to anime; shounen gains, especially action shounen.

If the manga came after the anime, I usually don't bother with it at all.

ugh, "fufufu" is the worst. I hate that it won.

As for this week's poll... I prefer the anime if the art is on-par with the manga, but often times it's not.
However, if all things were equal, I suppose the art would be equal... so I choose anime, even though in a real-life situation, I'll usually choose the manga first.

if the manga and anime are the same i usually just watch the anime if a didn't start reading tha manga before. Sometimes i read the manga and then watch the anime (Onepunch Man, Shokugeki no Soma)

as residentgrigo there are no mentions of LN, and more recently they are the original.

Personally the choice is fairly genre dependent and which I saw/read first.

Though all things being equal there is definitely one thing anime has that manga doesn't (not including movement) and that is sound, music in particular. Something like Mushishi can really leverage music to create an atmosphere that can't really be found in the manga.

Assuming there is no change in plot, no censorship of any kind, and no removal of scenes (a little filler is fine in moderation) then the anime is good enough. There is little reason to see/read it again, unless its that good, so I'd rather have the version that also includes (hopefully) good music and animated action scenes. Granted, this is coming from the guy who will likely watch the fansub version of it regardless. Price aside, all of the above have been a pet peeve of mine when it comes to anime/manga, and its only less likely for a fan translator to do that.

I used to say "watch the anime," but thanks to crunchyroll, watching anime outside the U.S. is nearly impossible these days.

For me it really depends.

In all cases, I will read the manga first. Based on this, if i enjoyed it then I will watch the anime, but if I feel the manga was meh, I won't bother seeking out the anime.

Being a shoujo/josei fan, i find anime in this area lacking to begin with, so I would watch it for entertainment purposes rather than to enhance my opinion on the original manga.

I can read more chapters and get more story in one sitting of 30 minutes not to mention anime is the adaptation of the manga so if it's going to be equal, I'd rather get more story in 30 minutes to see if I like it. Unfortunately adaptations are always tricky and will never be "equal." I'm trying to maximize on my time spent.

it depends. most of the time, the few times i watch an anime, it's an action shounen that benefits from being animated. and i usually skip out on the manga, especially if the manga has like 23982948 chapters. i also skip out on animes that have 80+ episodes as well. i guess i have a commitment problem.

as for shoujo or slice-of-life genres, i will usually read the manga first and likely skip out on the anime unless it has rave reviews or has some factor that will benefit from animation. BL is my top manga genre and barely any of those get animated anyways and those that do are not very good.

I generally don't like adaptations. That is why I only read manga in such cases. For example I never watched One Piece or Fairy Tail anime, even though I like mangas...

Well no choice of "I just choose randomly"?

If it was originally a manga, then I investigate whether the anime was considered a well-done and faithful adaptation that didn't have a filler end. If so, I start with the anime, then move onto the manga if there is still material left. Otherwise, I read only the manga.

If it was originally an anime, then I watch the anime and don't bother with the manga unless I REALLY love the series, to the point that I also look for fan art.

Happy New Years!

I would read the manga first before watching the anime. If the art for the manga is terrible, then I'd just watch the anime first, then read the manga to see the minor differences.

Attach on Titan is a good example. The manga's art is terrible, but the anime's artistic sense is on Godly level.

As for Claymore/Berserk, I read the manga, and then when I caught up with the slow release schedule, I watched what the anime adaptations had to offer.