Publication Facts and Rating (0 to 5 stars) "At-a-Glance"

Publisher: Movic (Tokyo, Japan)
Publication Year: ????
Number of cards: 22
Quality of artwork -- 3 1/2 stars
Usefulness for meditation/pathworking -- 1/2 star
Readability (Divination) -- 1/2 stars
Symbology -- 1 star
Value to Collectors -- 3 stars

General Commentary
Here's a tarot question to ponder: When are tarot cards not exactly tarot cards?

Answer: When they are trading cards.

Alright... so it's kind of a silly question. But the concept itself -- trading cards dressed up to look like tarot cards -- seems perfectly reasonable. Even clever. After all, why should T.V. and movie trading cards be limited to nothing more but endless "stills" of scenes from a show? If tarot imagery is truly archetypal, then any story of at least minimal substance should contain potential correspondences to that imagery. And since trading cards are, almost by definition, cards-with-images, having a tarot "subset" within a series doesn't really seem like much of a stretch.

The idea of tarot trading cards, however, is not a concept that seems to be found in U.S.-published trading card series (at least, not as far as I've been able to determine). In Japan, however, there is a company named Movic that publishes a wide variety of manga- (comic book) and anime- (cartoon show) related items, including manga- and anime-based tarots and trading card series containing tarot subsets. Among their tarot-related offerings is the Weiß Kreuz tarot (reviewed previously), and the Ah! My Goddess trading card set. The latter is based on the "Ah! My Goddess" ("Aa Megami-sama" in Japanese) manga and anime, and a so-called "perfect collection" of the trading set consists of 103 different cards -- 22 of which correspond directly with the Major Arcana of a standard tarot.

So, what's the point? Anime and trading cards... what is here to interest a tarot enthusiast? To be honest... perhaps nothing. To begin with, obtaining a set of the Ah! My Goddess (AMG) tarot cards is not as simple as driving down to your local anime-specialty store and picking up a set off the shelf. Compiling a full set of the tarot cards would require the purchase of a great number of the individual trading card packs -- which is not necessarily an inexpensive way to obtain a majors-only deck. Second, most of the correspondences between tarot symbolism and the AMG cards would only be apparent to tarotists who also happen to be fans of the show.

(The series itself, by the way, is a romantic comedy that seems to be sort of a cartoon mixture of "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Three's Company." For more information on "Ah! My Goddess" you can check out a site called "The Goddess Project.")

From a reader's standpoint, then, the AMG tarot trading cards would probably fall right down at the bottom of the "gotta have" list. From a collector's standpoint, on the other hand, the AMG cards have several things to recommend them. Since a full set can only be obtained "piecemeal" (or by purchasing them from someone who assembled them "piecemeal", which is how I got my set), it seems probable that the AMG cards would be an unusual -- and, over time, rare -- addition to any collection. And for those who enjoy the Japanese mange/anime illustration style, the AMG trading set doesn't fail to please. The colors are uniformly appealing, and range from soft pastels, as in the Wheel of Fortune and Judgment cards, to bold primary hues, as in the Empress card. The characters themselves are rendered in a soft, flowing style that evokes the romantic flavor of the series itself. The cards themselves are made of a heavy gloss-coated stock that should hold up well, even with extensive (albeit respectful) handling.

It's probably safe to say that the AMG tarot trading cards can be considered, at a minimum, an interesting curiosity in the world of tarot. Readers are unlikely to find much benefit in owning a set, but for the more eclectic collector, the AMG tarot should, at the least, make an interesting "conversation piece."

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Guest review copyright 2001 by Jeannette Roth
Used with permission