The Musical Utena ~ Bud of the White Rose extras include a round-table discussion among the Student Council cast members. In it, they are playing old maid with a deck of cards whose backs are customized to match the backs seen in the series:

Unfortunately, this put the idea in my head to do the same. A diversion that quickly spiraled into a bloody project, the result of which is now a *compulsively* accurate to the series deck, with some...special extras. I didn't anticipate there'd be any demand for these, because I'm an idiot. But there is, so this is the way we're gonna sell 'em.

The cards are going to be ordered in bulk by the vendor based on the volume of sales, meaning, no more decks will be printed than get purchased. Why? Because I get a volume discount over a certain point, this lets me customize the orders, and you totally love getting packages from us, don't you??? The price for the deck printed before volume discounts is $26, and the wooden box is $18. I am not accounting for PayPal fees or shipping to me in the costs of the cards, and even with a huge bulk order I'll probably make at most $8-9/deck. I'm not aiming to become a millionaire, but I do think a bit of profit is fair given how elaborate these are. Expect to pay more for the Tarot Card Project that this absolutely was not a vendor test run for. ;)

Please send payment at the time you place your order, with the e-mails and or names matching so we know who you are!!

If you have not paid by X, your cards will not be ordered. Based on the processing and shipping of my test run, these cards should be reaching you by Christmas, should that be important.

I took a *LOT* into consideration in the design of the cards when it became clear that I couldn't bear to have the custom back without the custom Joker. At which point I was looking for the means to customize both sides of the cards, anyway. The goal of this deck is be series-accurate and plausible *in world.* As such, there is no specific "UTENA" branding anywhere on it, since the local card printer near Ohtori Academy would have no reason to put that name on it.

Though a traditional deck of cards you're familiar with is 3.5in/2.5in, these are not. Most playing cards you purchase in a store are poker cards, which are these dimensions. However, the cards in the episode are consistently drawn much more narrow, with even the thickest (I checked) still clocking in much closer to another deck shape: bridge cards.

This meant I'd have to remake every individual playing card, but keeps them more accurate to the series shape, and the use of the cards: bridge cards are thinner to optimize ease of use in your hand when you're dealing with larger numbers of cards, such as in bridge. Because they're narrower, more fit comfortably. This also makes them look nicer in your hand, which I swear to God would be a consideration made in world.

Assuming the Student Council uniforms are true white, even in the remaster, the cards are not: they're almost a dirty cream color. My finaly product is somewhere in the middle, the color turned down just enough to keep the cards from having a stark, bluish white to them. It's barely noticeable unless you're holding them up against another regular deck where the whites are true.

I have somewhat altered the face card fonts from a traditional deck to better suit the look set by the Joker card, as well as the way they're drawn in the episode shots, despite this being a product of them being hand drawn. Again, because it's a damn cartoon, the face cards are also noticeably less elaborate than a typical card deck. My deck is based on a vectorized deck of regular western poker cards made by Chris Aguilar, under a CC license, and though it preserves the elaborate look of the face cards, I reduced as lot of detail. This lines them up more with how they are drawn in the episode, and makes them seem less out of place next to comparatively simple backs and Jokers.

As you can see, I have stayed very, very close to the series examples for these cards. Closer, actually, than the musical did. I also made a customized tuck box for the cards, since certainly the prestigious Ohtori Academy Student Council wouldn't be using cards that came shrink wrapped and otherwise loose. The box is designed entirely by me, and as I said, avoids any "Utena" branding. For those of you who don't know, "Hou'Ou City" is the name of the city surrounding the school. Hou'Ou means 'phoenix,' just as Ohtori does. Yes, apparently, I work at a local printing company. Whatever, I like the joke, you can just suck it. :(

So this is where things got...a little out of hand. As I was simplifying and grossly restructuring each face card to match the bridge shape and less elaborate style, it occured to me how easily a rose crest could slip into a queen's hand. How easily a sword could become the Sword of Dios. This spiraled out of control, until the end result is that each face card has references to the series. Whether that's the Sword of Dios, the fencing hall's flooring from episodes 28/29, a rose crest, or a character's outfit characteristics. But Giovanna! I thought these were series accurate! Why the hell would Akio and Utena appear stylized in the deck of cards???

Come on. This is the show with a train zooming past the Student Council as they talk. They literally eat exposition at one point, served up letters from Ends of the World. Touga would absolutely be playing cards with an explicit reference to himself in the King of Hearts, and he would just never notice. It's Ohtori Academy. Also, this is bloody awesome, and humors my compulsive desire for Utena-themed swag that is sneakier and more mature than just blasting anime images all over everything. You could take this deck to work on a slow day, and an inattentive person might not notice anything's awry. If they do, they absolutely won't know what. In fact, as I made these, I kept having to tell people in the Discord and on Twitter what exactly I'd done. So. Subtle. I made a guide:

The choices I made for who is what and what goes where are almost entirely arbitrary based on what I could blend in well with the original design of the card. This is why Nanami appears but Miki does not: the only place I changed the color scheme of the deck was for the gem in the Sword of Dios. Characters like Utena, Touga, Nanami, and Akio as Ends of the World already fit the color scheme, hence they appear. Anthy is referenced both by the color and shape of her uniform design. Juri is represented not by the presence of her uniform, but by her sword. So on and so forth. They're cool, you're welcome.

Yes, apparently, I work at a local printing company. Whatever, I like the joke, you can just suck it. :(

Because it's bloody cool and was an option, you can also get wooden box for the cards, engraved with, of course, a bloody rose crest. (Thank you so much violaine of the Discord for vectorizing the image for me!!) The cards, as they're bridge cards, are slightly narrower than the box, but it's not a huge difference. I figure some of you will want a wooden box with a rose crest because ROSE CRESTS ON EVERYTHING. I did say it was series-accurate, no?

The box willl have an improved rose crest over this sample printing. I refined the image since ordering.