Manga Review: The Tarot Café Vol. 1 by Sang-Sun Park

I picked up the first volume of The Tarot Café on a whim. I’d read a little bit about the series online and seen nothing but rave reviews. When I saw it on the shelf I thought, why not? I’m so glad that I did, I feel as if I’ve stumbled into really fantastic with Tarot Café.

Pamela is a clairvoyant and the owner of The Tarot Café where she caters to a supernatural clientele. Eventually they all come to Pamela to know what their futures will hold. A wish-fulfilling cat, vampire, fairy, and an alchemist people the stories of this volume. Pamela reads their pasts, presents, and their possible futures while reserving judgment.

In episode 1, ‘A Wish-Fulfilling Cat,’ we met a cat who is able to fulfill the wishes of his mistress. This one was particularly heart wrenching as you learn that the cat has fallen in love with his human mistress only to have all in love with another.

With Episode 2, ‘Eternal Beauty,’ we met a vampire who is cursed to repeat his mistakes over and over. Doomed to kill the one he loves and live with the burden he fights to break free of the vicious cycle. He comes to Pamela for help already knowing the choice he has made in his heart.

Episode 3, ‘A Fairy,’ was the comic relief of the collection. To break a curse a fairy trapped in the body of a small girl must find someone who needs help. The fairy has to help this person with all her heart and only then will the curse be broken. But when everything seems to go wrong will the Fairy ever break the curse and marry her one true love?

Episode 4 (part 1) is ‘A Heartless Princess, an Alchemist, and a Jester.’ When an Alchemist wishes to marry a heartless Princess her one condition to accepting him is that he makes her smile. The Alchemist tries everything he can think of and eventually builds her a Jester. The Jester makes the Princess smile but soon she has moved on to other amusements at the Jester’s expense. When the Alchemist learns of the Princess’ cruelty he must make a choice between her and his doll. This is one is unfinished, an incentive as if you needed one, to pick up The Tarot Café volume two, in which the episode is finished.

Article Author: Katie Trattner

Ms. Trattner works for a non-profit agency where she is thankful for any internet time she can squeeze into her day. In her free time she reads one of the thousands of books stacked in her tiny apartment.

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