Tarot Cafe is a rather charming manhwa. The main selling point for me is the abundance of sympathetic characters. Pamela, the tarot reader, has a long and fascinating past. She genuinely cares for all of her clients, regardless of the challenges presented to her personally. The clients themselves are engaging and easy to become attached to as you learn their stories, and some of the tales are genuinely heartwarming. The settings are also gorgeous, everywhere from centuries old Turkey to modern London, mystical forests, and the very depths of hell. The plot itself is a little lackluster. Although individual elements of the past are enthralling (enoughso that I was willing to excuse plot issues), when it all gets pieced together something is lost. Also, for the first volume, or even two, the primary focus is not on the plot, but on individual clients that have no apparent relationship to each other. On one hand, it makes a nice little collection of one-shot deals to read at your leisure. On the other, it seems both fragmented and slightly frustrating when searching for a real story beneath it all.

Adding to the frustration is the art. Yes, it's lush and detailed, and both beautiful and grotesque scenes are rendered well. But the character faces fall into only three categories: most noticeably, generic sultry bishies. The only feature I could rely on to tell the male characters apart was their hair. Unfortunately, that's a major flaw in my book.

Still, don't let that scare you away from it. It's still very enjoyable overall. It has drama, mystery, comedy, and a bit of horror. Good characters, pretty (if impractical) art, plot twists galore, fun side stories, lots of demons, and a cute uke werewolf. A bonus - you learn some tarot as you read.