I loved the second season of the anime but didn't care for the first, so I'm wondering whether it's worth reading the beginning of the manga or whether I should start after the Kyoto arc?

Edit: Went ahead and read it since I got no answers. For anyone else wondering about this, I would definitely recommend the manga over the first season of the anime - it's more mature and some of the plots (such as the Aoshi one) are better fleshed out. There's also a lot of filler in the anime, and I didn't personally like those episodes, so I was glad not to see them in the manga.

I'm not far into the Kyoto content, just up to the beginning of the fire plot. So far it's incredibly similar to the anime, right down to the various close ups and whatnot, which is what I had read elsewhere. I actually like the small changes made in the anime (how Kaoru encounters Kenshin is probably the biggest one so far) so I prefer the anime, but only by a negligible amount.

it takes like 15-20 mins to read a volume

why not give it a try and see if you like it
its not like you are spending money on it(right 😕 )

I think you should try it too, what do you have to lose?

M-chan