Animes are wonderful. Many great minds dedicate hundreds of hours to turning an anime series into the perfect adaptation of a mangaka’s work, to the point where some animes are even better than the original author’s work. But there is no getting around the fact that the manga is the original.
However, if you want to have the experience the author intended you to have, the only way is to read the manga. To see the work as it was drawn by the author’s own hands.
If you are following an ongoing series, the best way to follow the discussions related to that series online is to stay updated on the manga. If all you do is watch the anime, you risk getting spoilers if you try to participate in online discussions regarding that series. And many manga fans will tell you that the discussion surrounding a bombshell chapter is as entertaining as the chapter itself.
And if you don’t know much about mangas in general, check out TheJapaneseWay.com.