32-book manga, although the plot basically died off and got repetitive after the first 10 books or so. Suposedly the author ended the series several times but came back to write more episodes because it was lucrative to do so, sort of like what happened in later episodes of dragonball z where basically another stronger villain would come along and the hero would lose for a little while and then get stronger and defeat the villian, only to have another stronger villain come along...