And now I'm officially caught up with the latest translated chapter available atm.
I know this may sound extremely silly, but it's the same way as I did with other series that I fell in love with - I started to watch the anime first and then go through the manga to enjoy it in a more accessible manner. But, as I am a tiny bit behind in the anime (due to my order of priorities, really), I said "why not" and started bing reading the manga from the moment where I left it off (where I caught the anime previously) and it has been a VERY NICE trip.
All of these characters, the whole development around Rei... mellowing through characters that I didn't think I would mellow towards to (very well deservedly so), getting through them... it's amazing what Umino does with this.
The anime is also pretty good - the visuals translate well and the studio gives them their typical spin and it's quite a treat to watch, too.
I wish I could own an official translation of this series one day, too.