Review: Sailor Manyo Kikyou Ink

The Sailor Manyo Kikyou is a deep, gorgeous blue ink that is suited for everyday use. I've been using it nearly every day since late September when I first purchased it, and I must say, it's a good ink.

Manyo Kikyou is a dark blue ink usable in nearly every situation. It has a great shading, consistent of a hint of red shading while being predominantly blue. On cheaper paper, it maintains a nice look, but doesn't shade.

Sailor's Manyo series is based off the Manyosyu, a collection of over 4,500 poems written throughout four centuries by people ranging from farmers to Emperors. It's refreshing to hear about the unique backstory offered by this ink collection and I absolutely adore using this ink.

I bought my 50 ml bottle less than half a year ago and am already getting low!

On Rhodia dotPad, the ink appears pretty dark. From my experience, the type of paper drastically affects the amount of red visible through the ink. Of course, writing with a wetter pen would produce more shading.

However, I do want to note that this ink has a relatively strong chemical smell. To me, it smells like a mixture of chlorine and wet paint (weird, I know), but this smell isn't too noticeable and the writing experience won't be affected by it. This small is only noticeable when you take the nib and place it near your nose.

Nevertheless, I love Sailor's Manyo Kikyou ink. The color is pretty and, in my humble opinion, rivals Pilot's Iroshizuku Kon-Peki in beauty. I always find myself coming back to this color and I love using it, especially given the story behind the ink.