The Tarot Cafe

Description

Official English: INKR

Meet Pamela, a tarot card reader who helps supernatural beings living in the human world. She'll help anyone, whether they're a love-stricken cat, a vampire spending eternal life running from his one true love, an unattractive waitress looking for the man of her dreams, or even a magician who creates a humanoid doll to serve the woman he loves. Although Pamela is good-natured, there is a deep dark secret that she must deal with before she can move on to the next life.

Type

Manhwa

Related Series

Princess Ai: Encounters (Side Story)

Associated Names

Das Tarot Café (German)

The Tarot Café

Кав'ярня «Таро»

Кафе Таро

타로카페

Groups Scanlating

Cat Chan Scans

Evil Flowers

Latest Release(s)

v.7 c.4 (end) by Evil Flowers 16 years ago

v.7 c.3 by Evil Flowers 16 years ago

v.7 c.2 by Evil Flowers 16 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

7 Volumes (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

N/A

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

1 topics, 4 posts

Click here to view the forum

User Rating

Average: 8.2 / 10.0 (362 votes)

Bayesian Average: 8.05 / 10.0

30%

20%

22%

12%

Last Updated

March 18th, 2025 10:28am PDT - 5 months ago

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Genre

Comedy Drama Fantasy Horror Josei Mystery Romance Supernatural
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

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Recommendations

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Sigongsa

Serialized In (magazine)

N/A

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

INKR Comics

TokyoPop (7 Vols - Complete; print & digital)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #773

(-22)

Monthly Pos #2039 (No change)

3 Month Pos #3189

(-450)

6 Month Pos #3905

(-1294)

Year Pos #6173

(-758)

List Stats

On 433 reading lists

On 707 wish lists

On 857 completed lists

On 74 unfinished lists

On 367 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

story???...*spoilers*

13 years ago

User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

Just a mess.

by Shellshock
4 years ago

Rating: 3.0 / 10.0

The tarot cafe is a story about a girl who use tarot cards, owns a cafe and is immortal. She is trying to collect beads to complete her contract. There is also significant amount of fantasy elements and the manga is set in the modern-ish world.

if it feels like the description was really lazy that's because it was. And i've still put in more effort than the author did.

The manga is all over the place. The episodic stories, which last for 2 volumes before the main story starts, are boring as shit. Some of them were so bad i started laughing.

SPOILERS FOR 1 EPISODIC STORY AND ITS RIDICOLOUSNESS.

This guy is an alchemist. Can create anything the plot demands him too. He kidnaps this princess and tries to make her laugh. But she is one of those dominatrix woman that get off by killing you. Not knowing this the alchemist creates this ultimate jester who's sole goal is to make her laugh. She tortures him daily. He fixes the doll daily. The alchemist relaizes the women is fucked up as hell and falls in love with there doll and now they have started a weird relationship. The absurdity of it made me laugh for a little too long.

The rest of the series is also a mess. You can't follow the characters, you can't follow the story. Everything is all over the place. There is also a bunch of weirdo shit in there for no discernible reason.

The characters have barely any development and the ones that do, develop for stupid reasons. The series which is already confusing as it is. Also pulls the fucking Non-linear narrative. Fuck anyone who pulls that shit.

I Honestly can't tell you more about the series since it was so bad. The ending was also very weird and random. The only decent part about the series was when they finally started revealing all the information . and the art. The art is nice to look at.

TLDR: I mean its awful guys. Read a better manga. Every character is overdramatic. Falls in love for no reason. Does stupid ass decisions. And fails at being melodramatic. 3/10

... Last updated 4 years ago

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Good Enough

by JapanRocks
9 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

I've been interested in this manwha for a while but have always put it off. After years of looking past it I've finally read it. Was it worth the wait? Kind of.

The plot was interesting enough, I'm a sucker for adventure of the day type stories. When the plot started focusing on the Pamela character she was strong enough to carry it on iho, but for others, like lfb, that might be the point where the story stops being interesting. The "plot twist" at the end was so foreseeable from several chapters away that I'm not sure it was supposed to be a plot twist for anyone else except the MC. I could probably post a rant about the ending and whether or not a certain character should've been forgiven, but in the end I just don't care enough. I'll just leave it at immortality and holding grudges being mutually exclusive. The art is typical Korean art- Beautiful but with lots of guess work about people's gender.

Oh well, overall it's a nice Sunday afternoon read. Not too serious or too laid back, nothing to hate but nothing to love. I recommend it for the bored people out there.

... Last updated 9 years ago

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Okay

by lfb
11 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

Started off interesting even though the stories weren't exactly innovative. But then later on, I started to get a bit bored when the story focused in the main plot/Pamela. I understand everyone's reason for liking Pamela but at the same time, I don't. She isn't interesting to me nor can I see the appeal in her character yet many of the reoccurring male characters love her.

The ending was better than expected. It wasn't dissatifying but it's also a bit forgettable.

... Last updated 11 years ago

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Boring

by asmageddon
13 years ago

Rating: 4.0 / 10.0

The Tarot Cafe consists of self contained stories, some interesting, most... not so much.
The main problems are that said stories easy overshadow the main plot and the way the story is told - via tarot card readings.

While it is indeed somewhat original, it quickly gets in the way of enjoying the manga - unless you already know tarot, having to read card descriptions AND interpretation of the main protagonist, Pamela is really, really annoying. It also makes her look like a pretentious, know-it-all character, which is by no means something I like.

Who knows, maybe there's something interesting later on. Maybe, I couldn't bear the poor way this story is told. 4/10

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A group of sophisticated love stories

by CurlyJoe
14 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

It has angst for sure, but with the short subplots, it can pull it off. The main plot is slow, as it only gets attention between the customers' tales. This is good for Josei lovers who read Josei for other reasons than smut. The art is fantastic, but the male characters suffer a major case of womanhood, meaning they all look like chicks. It's gothic, but not overly so. I would definitely suggest it for fans of the Pet Shop of Horrors series.

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different in a good way

by joyfullyme16
14 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

I really enjoyed this manga. It was interesting and different. There was just the right amount of darkness in it so that it wasnt depressing. It had romance in it. And the art once you get used to it is absolutly beatiful. I liked it very much.
I really loved the characters, even belus (actualy i think he was my favorite for some twisted reason) and i liked hearing everyone's story and problems and then finaly how everything worked out.
That being said it does have some defects. Some parts were a little confusing and sometimes i was wondering why something happened.
The ending was good but i would have prefered a little more. It wraped up everything nicely but it could have been a little better in my opinion.
All in all i would say it is worth the read.

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One of its kind

by Crazycat_kiss
14 years ago

Rating: 9.5 / 10.0

Beautiful drawings, the story begins nicely to hook the reader and then we deepen into the main protagonist past life & love life... Well, compared to everything we're used to read, this one definitely stands out.

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Incredibly unique

by lyransi
14 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

I must admit that what initially intrigued me about this manhwa were the BL elements and short stories within a story format not unlike One Thousand And One Nights. However, what really made this manhwa stand out to me turned out to be the main story. It's a rarity in the sense that demons actually act like you'd expect demons would, yet it's neither horribly dark nor over dramatic. There's a sense of excitement in the way the artist is capable of weaving together such a twisted love story that is simultaneously heart warming. It's certainly a unique must-read for fans of romances that seek something fresh and new!

... Last updated 14 years ago

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Lovely

by k_rocks2
14 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

The Tarot Café consists of some self-contained stories in which the main character, Pamela, reads tarot cards and advises her clients, as well as the main story unfolding Pamela’s tragic past and the subsequent events happening in the present.

The high contrast of the art (mostly black-and-white inking and gothic decorations) fit the story and adds the fantasy element to it. The characters are beautiful, androgynous, and appealing, albeit difficult to distinguished in terms of gender.

I agree with some of the reviewers that the main story is a bit confusing and a little rushed, but that is only because of the production hiatus as well as the deal with Tokyopop to end the series quickly. But as I hate series that drags on and redundant in plot (ie Skip Beat and The Wallflower), TTC ends where it should be.

TTC is highly enjoyable, intriguing, and at times melodramatic, I would recommend it to those who likes romance, fantasy, supernatural, and does not mind the episodic nature of the story.

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Great manwha

by daniyagami
15 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

One of the best shonen-ai I ever read.
Answering the commenter below mine: there are a lot of gay couples because the genre is Shonen-ai. You choose the wrong genre to read, if you dislike gay couples you shouldn't read shounen ai nor yaoi.
The story is amazing, is a very interesting mix of supernatural, horror, romance and a very well made shonen-ai. The art is beautiful and the bishounens are delicious. Strongly recommend.

... Last updated 15 years ago

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