Tarot Cafe (manga)

AJ said:

I've finished 1-4 and would be happy to send them on to someone in the U.S. in exchange for something on my wish list.

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Just bumping this offer if anyone is interested.

Just a note regarding volume 7: Amazon.com is listing the release date as June 17, 2008. So long, but I'll be very happy to finally be able to read it.

AJ said:

Just bumping this offer if anyone is interested.

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I really wish I could take you up on this. How are the stories like? I hear that the creator actually knows about Tarot, that makes me think it won't be bad at all.

Nevermore said:

I really wish I could take you up on this. How are the stories like? I hear that the creator actually knows about Tarot, that makes me think it won't be bad at all.

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She seems to actually know about it, either through personal interest or maybe she researched it on her own. The deck the two tarot reading characters, the main character Pamela, and Cora, use real tarot decks (the Aquarian and the Chinese, respectively). The images used in the books are those of the real decks, so she at least had to have some access to that.

Also, in the first few books, there were mini-readings performed for various characters and several pictures in the reading throughout the reading are made by taking a related deck and transposing the characters into that card. For example, there's a vampire named Calic, who is on love with a woman, so she drew the Lovers card from the Vampire Tarot (by Hertz) but with Calic and the woman in the place of the people actually in the card. So, she at least has access to different decks. Perhaps she's a collector?

When the cards come up in a reading in the book, there's usually a side note as to the traditional meaning of the card. From time to time, Pamela will interpret the cards slightly intuitively, which I found to be a good thing.

Oh wow. I'm going to see if my local bookstore carries the latest. There's a good chance I'll get more from the series next year

I just finished book 6... a veritable roller coaster ride. Things have really picked up in the plot. Huge revelations about characters... the loss of a few characters... fabulous outfits... what's not to love.

I really enjoy the way the artist has incorporated tarot decks into the books. There are a couple cute little flubs for tarot aficionados to catch. In one scnee in the 1500's Pamela is reading with a copy of the Visconti tarot. What's cute is that the artist based the deck on the Lo Scarabeo edition with the card titles in several languages down the side

At first I had wondered why the artist had chosen the Aquarian tarot as Pamela's main reading deck but from the sheer number of readings she performs through the books it makes sense to use a deck with simple lines like the Aquarian. I love that a monstrous fortune teller in hell uses the Universal Waite (you can tell by the backs). Strangely though the Thoth deck has not appeared in any form in the series. Thus far we have seen:

The Aquarian
Visconti
Secret
Whimsical
Tarot of the Witches (Labeled "Wolves for some odd rrason)
Art Nouveau
Moon Garden
Dragon (USG)
Fey
Halloween
Master
Herbal
Universal Waite
Old Path
Morgan-Greer

Shade said:

Thus far we have seen:

The Aquarian
Visconti
Secret
Whimsical
Tarot of the Witches (Labeled "Wolves for some odd rrason)
Art Nouveau
Moon Garden
Dragon (USG)
Fey
Halloween
Master
Herbal
Universal Waite
Old Path
Morgan-Greer

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Don't forget the Chinese Tarot that Cora uses.

Also, it slightly pains me to admit it, but my main reason for getting the Aquarian deck was because Pamela uses it.

Just a heads up, Amazon.com lists the date for Volume 7 as June 17, 2008.

Tokyo Pop are really cool, they allow people to read all the mangas online, including the last 7th book, you have to read chapter after chapter:

http://www.tokyopop.com/product/2142/TarotCafeThe/7.html

Good read!

Makes it hard to balance the computer in bed though.

I pre-ordered Volume 7. Might as well see how it comes out. Though I liked the way it started better with the separate stories.