Elemental Gelade's manga is honestly one of the best manga, if not the best I've read, and I've read a bit of manga (Tokyo Ghoul, chainsaw man, bleach, TPN) The story for EG is outstanding. It has an interesting start followed by a VERY interesting storyline. It felt very fleshed out because all aspects of its storyline was inspected and explained very well. Personally, it's story was the thing which made me hooked on reading it, and I've already watched the anime version of it. The characters are so fun and interesting as you learn more about them, and see their personalities from their many interactions. Thecharacter development of this manga is amazing because almost every character is fleshed out and their mindset changes/broadens over time. I was enfatuated with the characters, and got attached to many of them (especially the main characters)

The art...whew, is literally some of the best I've seen. The character designs for the most part always look so flawless, and there are so many beautiful; badass manga panels. Easily my 2nd favourite artstyle and quality of art (1st being Tokyo ghoul)

As I've said before, I've watched the anime, but it wasn't particularly standing out to me. I decided to read the manga, but I wasn't expecting much compared to the anime...but boy was I wrong. The anime and manga are very different in MANY ways, including original characters in the manga not being in the anime (and vice versa)
And I honestly found the manga MUCH BETTER because of its beautifully fleshed out storyline, and characters, compared to the anime. And I generally enjoyed reading the manga much more, although the anime wasn't that bad.

The only thing that I disliked about the manga was the ending which was a cliffhanger. I looked for a sequel but there wasn't any (to my despair) and I really wanted a proper ending to a manga that I especially loved.

So in conclusion, this manga is a must read, and although it may not be everyone's choice of reading, I say "give it a try, you won't regret it!"