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So far over the past five years Kingdom Note has collaborated with Sailor to produce a thematic group of inks exclusive for the shop. In 2015, the series was on Crustaceans of Japan, or more specifically, the waters of Japan. Cambaroides japonicus Birgus latro Marsupenaeus japonicus Uca arcuata Macrocheira kaempferi Originally I was only able to acquire a couple of these, and recently these inks came back in stock, except for the M. kaempferi, and I was able to get two more. I've previously reviewed two of these inks, the C. japonicus and the U. arcuata, The links are above in the list. This review is for the B. latro, the Coconut Crab. The ink is a mid-to-dark value brown that does not lean red, with excellent shading, fast dry times, and is nearly waterproof. The ink sometimes appears close to black. In that regard it is similar to Sailor's Do-you, but the coloring is different here, and the value typically lighter. The lubrication is exceptionally smooth. The ink comes in the standard Sailor "jar" bottle. The Wikipedia page for this species provides interesting information about the creature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab Pen: Edison Premiere (M-steel) Papers: MvL=Mohawk via Linen, TR=Tomoe River, Hij=Hammermill 28 lb inkjet, Rhodia=Rhodia 90g ivory. Camera: iPhone 7

I'm really at a loss for words here. Bad batch, maybe?

There are four KWZ inks having "brown" in their name: Brown #2, Brown #3, Brown #4, and Dark Brown (this ink). These are the warm browns, the red-leaning ones, that some people don't like. That's not an issue for me so long as it's a nice color, and the handling is how I like it in my pens. Each has their own qualities in handling and appearance, however, only one of them, #3, is actually a brown to my eyes. With this preview out of the way, let's look at the individual inks. This ink is more of a black to my eyes. It's somewhat shady, relatively fast-drying, but basically it serves as a black. In certain light and at certain angles, you can see it more as a greyish-brown. I tried this ink in my driest pen, as it was available. Maybe if I'd used a different pen, I'd feel different about the ink. It seems more like Iro. Take-sumi than Sailor Doyou. There are a number of good dark browns out there that are really dark browns, to the near blacks, and I have to admit this ink doesn't excite me. I'd like it better if it was wetter, and if it had more brown character. The images show the ink as more one-dimensional than it is. They are too dark. The chromatography shows there is potential here, but the realization needs to be met. Not water resistant, as expected.