Tarot cards have been used for hundreds of years as a fortune-telling device. Many anime have used them for thematic and symbolic reasons.

Tarot Cards have been in use for hundreds of years as a game, as a way to divine the future, and as an attempt to answer some of life's most difficult questions. Whether Tarot Cards can read the future or not, they have had a large impact on entertainment and pop culture and have shown up in countless works across many mediums.

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There are many ways to read tarot cards, many spreads in which to arrange them, and at the intersection of Anime and Tarot Cards, there is Cardcaptor Sakura. Cardcaptor Sakura isn’t the only anime and manga series to feature the Tarot in a prominent role, though. With so many anime that focus on card games and the even more abundant anime that focus on the supernatural in general, it’s no surprise that there are at least 6 more notable titles to feature the Tarot.

Cardcaptor Sakura features long rectangular cards called Clow Cards that aren't directly based on any specific Tarot Cards, but they are each a person, animal, or item that represents a magical element or concept. For instance, there is a wolf that represents electricity and a wizard that represents time. Tarot Cards similarly portray figures like The Lovers, who represent relationships, or The Fool, who represents new beginnings.

Tarot Cards are most known for their use in divination through various card spreads, and while the Clow Cards are known for the monsters they summon, Sakura does use the Clow Cards for fortune-telling on occasion, just as one would with Tarot.

Yu-Gi-Oh! might be one of the most prominent Tarot anime based on the frequency of occurrences alone. Each duelist in Yu-Gi-Oh! has a unique deck with cards that make use of various cultural influences. With so many influences, it wouldn't be odd to see a Tarot reference eventually, and it has indeed happened a lot. Some references include Carly Carmine's Fortune Fairies that she used for divination, Yu Sakuragi's Prophecy cards that were each named after the Major Arcana, and Lady of Faith was based on The High Priestess.

A Yu-Gi-Oh! GX antagonist named Sartorius used a card series called the Arcana Force. The monster cards of the Arcana Force are strange aliens named after members of the Major Arcana, and the spell and trap cards are based on the Minor Arcana. These cards even kept with the theme of Tarot Cards having positive and negative readings since Arcana Force cards have positive and negative effects that are decided by chance with a coin flip.

In Part 3 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, most of the Stand abilities featured in the anime and manga are named after members of the Major Arcana. The JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Tarot Card references are relatively shallow, but some Stand names do suit the user or their abilities. One example is Jotaro Kujo's Star Platinum, which is named after The Star. The Star is the 17th Tarot Card and it can represent motivation or hope. This is fitting for Jotaro, being a 17-year-old student who has an unwavering motivation to save his mother by defeating Dio Brando.

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Just as Cardcaptor Sakura's Clow Cards have had physical reproductions, actual Tarot Cards based on the ones used in the Stardust Crusaders manga have been released as part of a Japanese card game called JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Adventure Battle Card with art by Hirohiko Araki.

Basil Hawkins is a man who ate the Straw-Straw Fruit, giving him the powers of a voodoo doll. This power allows Hawkins to do many mysterious and mystical things, like transfer battle damage to others with voodoo dolls or manipulate straw. Basil also decides his actions through consulting Tarot Cards.

Hawkins believes that his Tarot Readings are always correct, even trusting the reading that said he would not die the day he was under pursuit by a Marine Vice-Admiral on the Sabaody Archipelago. It has yet to be seen if Basil Hawkins' Devil Fruit has any connection to his trust in Tarot Cards. One Piece has shown legitimate fortune-tellers, like Madam Shyarly, so Basil Hawkins might just be one too.

Death Note's use of Tarot is not especially significant, but it does play a part in Episode 30 when Near is discussing shinigami over the phone with Light. While Near tries to extract information from the Kira Task Force, he symbolically draws cards from his Tarot spread that happen to suit his accusations and interrogations. In his readings, which come from a strange 30+ card circular spread, he draws the card, The Devil, as he mentions Kira. This is fitting since The Devil often represents violence.

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Death Note also has one more Tarot reference worth noting. The cover art of each Death Note volume mirrors the art from a Tarot Card. Fans sometimes debate which volume represents which Tarot Card, but many agree that Volume 1 is Death, 3 is The Devil, 4 is The Lovers, 5 is Justice, 9 is the Hermit, 10 is The Chariot, and 12 is Judgement.

When Cana Alberona isn't just filling the backgrounds at Fairy Tail headquarters, she employs a series of magical cards to assist her guildmates, defend herself, and occasionally read the future. Each card she owns can emit a spell with abilities ranging from long-distance communications to massive explosions. Casting a spell with multiple cards at once can create entirely new spells, like combining The Tower, The Lovers, and Lightning to cast a huge spell called Thunderbolt's Fate.

It is unknown if Cana created all of her cards by herself, but she seems to be able to. Not all of Cana's cards are based directly on Tarot Cards, and some cards created by Cana that are definitely not Tarot Cards are the Help Lucy and Sexy Lady cards.

Persona as a video game, manga, and anime series has not only referenced Tarot Cards but has outright celebrated them in prominent roles throughout multiple pieces of Persona media. Persona 3, 4, and 5 have all received anime adaptations, and in these adaptations as well as the original games, the main character's friends are often assigned a representative member of the Major Arcana.

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In Persona 5, specifically, these friends are known as confidants and receive fitting Major Arcana to represent. For example, Ryuji Sakamoto represents The Chariot, which represents overcoming adversity. That is exactly what Ryuji does in Persona 5: The Animation by not allowing the actions or opinions of others to affect his outlook on himself or his goals. Ryuji even encourages his old track team to follow his lead by running for themselves, not their parents or teachers. Persona 5 also features an actual fortune teller named Chihaya Mifune who uses Tarot Cards.

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Christian Garnett is an anime list writer for CBR, creator of the Centimeter Tournament webcomic, and writer for Molten Permit on YouTube.