Utena Tarot

Deck Name: Utena Tarot
Artists: Suehirogari, Tatsuki Amaori, Sakipon, etc.
Publisher: Bukimi
First Published: 1998

Revolutionary Girl Utena first appeared in Japan in 1996 as a manga and tv show. Its premise: a young girl, rescued by a prince as a child, resolves to become a prince herself. Her quest leads her to Ohtori Academy, where she faces numerous challenges to her lofty ideals. Despite a low budget and limited corporate backing, Utena succeeded in Japan and abroad; the series manga and movie became and remain cult classics.

Bukimi's Utena tarot reinterprets the major arcana, using characters and motifs from the tv show. There's no minor arcana, so playing tarock with this deck is out of the question. Ditto larger tarot spreads. For fans of the show, though, seeing an underappreciated anime translated into tarot form is half (or more) of the appeal.

This tarot is heavily steeped in the show's symbolism, but a few cards use traditional, Rider-Waite-Smith symbolism. The Moon card features many elements in the RWS moon card, such as a lobster, two dogs, two towers and, of course, the moon. The Wheel of Fortune card, in contrast, has four of the show's "comic relief" animals in the corners, with a rose signet as the wheel.

The Utena tarot is a collective effort, created by eleven different artists of varying skill. Some of the cards are whimsical, others are erotic, others are deadly serious. They have been made with different mediums, from digital art to colored pencil to watercolors. This leaves the deck without much unity of theme or style.

Bukimi.com sells the Utena Tarot for $30 per deck ($20 for the deck, $10 for shipping to the US/Canada). You can also view scans of the complete tarot at Ohtori.nu.

If you are interested in this deck, but have not seen the series, take heart! Nozomi Entertainment is releasing Revolutionary Girl Utena on DVD. Soon, you'll be able to watch the complete remastered version stateside, in English or Japanese.

Images:

Tarot of the New Vision

The Vampire Tarot

The Rider Waite Tarot

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