Read the visual novel! It has way more content, way more Faris (the anime barely touches her), and the first half doesn't suck! I might be one of the few that actually didn't like the anime too much though. I found the animation style off putting (it's got a 3D turned 2D look to it) and was rather bored with it up until the climax of the story. If you just want to read a visual novel, you can't go wrong with Steins;Gate. You will have to basically restart the game to get one of the endings, but the game makes it easy skip the scenes you've already read.