Sailor Manyo Koke: Ink Review

Sailor Manyo Koke is a calming pale blue chromashading fountain pen ink that's a pleasure to use. Its subtle shading moves from a light sky blue to a pale greenish-teal to a darker blue with bits of pink sheen inside. Read more below! 

Ink Review 

Supplies Used:

• Kakimori Stainless Steel dip nib
• Rhodia No. 16 dot pad, 80g white paper
• Tomoé River 52 gsm white paper
• Leuchtturm1917 80g notebook

Smear Test (Dry Time):

• 5 seconds – We used the Kakimori dip nib at a vertical angle for this test to emulate the feel and flow of a Sailor fine nib. The line yielded by the Kakimori nib dried almost instantly. With larger nibs with a heavier flow, you can expect a longer dry time though it'll still dry quickly.

Drip Test (Water Resistance):

• Low – There was limited water resistance. We don't recommend using this for ink art or any other important projects.

Saturation:

• Low – There are apparent differences between all three test swabs. You can see the color of the ink get darker and richer as more ink has been applied.

Ease of Cleaning:

• Easy – This fountain pen ink is easy to clean from your feed unit since it's so lightly colored.

Shading:

• Medium - Some shading is present with the Kakimori nib and is much more visible on the more absorbent Leuchtturm1917 paper. Overall, this isn't a monster shading ink, but it has some capabilities.

Flow:

• Medium – Inks this light tend to feel drier, but Koke was exceptionally well rounded. It'll probably be more on the drier side when using a finer nib, but the feel was nice coming from a medium or larger style.

 Packaging and Aesthetics:

• The large square Manyo bottles are easy to fill, and the artwork on the sticker is lovely!

If you're interested in similar colors, check out our Swab Shop where you can compare shades side by side.

Summary:

Sailor Manyo Koke is a unique chromashading fountain pen ink that transitions from a tranquil sky blue to a darker blue color with splashes of pink and teal sheen. This light-colored ink will make writing and cleaning a breeze with its quick dry time.

This color is available in 50ml bottles as well as our 2ml samples.