Want to read it !

kuroioni said:
Am a tad late, but oh well.
So, the thing with the anime is that it stays pretty faithful to the parts of the manga that it adapts. The closer to the beginning you look, the more faithful it is. As the story progresses, however, differences start to appear. Not so much in the overall plot, as... well. A main plot point (regarding Masa's brother) and a main character that's being introduced later on, are omitted. The main characters' (mainly Masa's and Ichi's) interaction with a certain side character are also altered and as a result of that, the ending is substantially different as well. A lot... richer and more satisfying I guess.
The main characters also get more developed over the course of the manga. They are being pushed (be it by their circumstances or by one another) to far greater extends than in the anime and as a result of this, in manga we see some truly outstanding character development.

If ya wanna read it, do yourself a favour and just go for the whole thing from the beginning. It IS worth it.

kuroioni said:

No problem, I love the manga so am happy to talk about it.
Now, to answer your question. Well... it's a bit hard to say without giving out too much. The manga goes into a lot more detail regarding the existing (in anime) plot points, as well as develops them further. There are things (a few from what I recall) in the anime that simply don't happen in the manga as well (that were introduced, or altered, so that the plot fits the alternate ending). I love the anime, but after reading manga I can say that it is simply lacking compared to it.
So, the anime does convey perhaps not the whole main idea, but.. at least parts of the main idea of the plot. It gives some indication for what direction the manga takes. But, to cover all the plot in a passable manner, the anime would have had to be perhaps 20 episodes long? Also, the manga is darker. Some actions that the main characters take, the choices they are forced to make and as a result they way they end up is a lot more.. meaningful and profound (and, as I said, darker - although this refers to their actions rather than the ending itself) compared to the anime.
I know it's not very clear but being this vague is the best I can do without spoiling the manga for ya.