tylerkendo:
My suggestion is always read manga first and then watch anime, cause most of the time anime changes many things written in manga.
Revenge:
Well, five years after I posted here, I had the opportunity to read the manga meanwhile, and I was a bit disapointed... I mean, it's not what I was expecting, it's not as fun as the anime. Some jokes are still there, but I think that they make more sense animated... imo. Some chapters are shorter than their anime counterparts too. There are more characters in the anime than in the manga, that lacks Megane, Chiba, Perm and the other I forgot the name. I like Megane very much. And honestly, Takahashi wasn't a very good drawer back in the 80's. That's a thumbs down :-\
She drew the same faces every chapters, it's like she had a pool of 2 or 3 faces to choose, and every new character that appears got a random one from that pool. Somehow, the anime dodged those flaws... well, not somehow, because that has an explanation. The staff behind the anime was wonderful, the animators and directors, Mamoru Oshii, Kazuo Yamazki, did an excelent job, the studio Pierrot and studio Deen made a good job animating the manga, and also, they added some elements that worked like a charm. Summing up, it's not like the manga is bad, it's just different, and if you're going to read it, you're going to be surprised like I was. The anime is the "more" complete version in this case, in my opinion :)
Lum-chan:
I totally agree. I've read the manga as well as I watched the anime, not only of Urusei Yatsura but from others as well. But sometimes the animation-adaption of a manga is way better. Urusei Yatsura is certainly one of those rare ones.
lumlover:
Im not sure if I agree :o I love both the anime and the manga but, I guess if I had to choose ,I will go with the manga!, mainly because a lot os stories never made it to the anime, and I believe some characters develop more in the manga, like ryuu-chan, I know the anime has more characters and some extra stuff ,but I personally liked a little more the manga ;D
Jhordan:
The manga is somewhat better, the stories are shorter, it's true, but there are chapters in the manga that Ataru cares more about Lum, you can tell he loves her ... sorry for my English