Here to see if this makes anymore sense than the anime and it doesn't and I love it. Glad to see an older series get love. Made at a time where authors took risks still and troupes hadn't taken over.
Im reading this and reborn atm. Its amazing how great these stories are even if the structure is a bit broken and the worlds are a bit absurd. They werent worried about pleasing anyone and instead wrote for themselves first. Only a few mainstream series have managed to keep the same feeling. Jojo and One Piece are the ones I can think off the top of my head. With Jojo only really going into the "mainstream" in recent years instead of being a niche.