Pilot Iroshizuku Full Line (24 Inks)

[fountainpenlady]

Indeed. This is a fabulous resource, as are all your comprehensive reviews. Thank you!

The Tsukushi and Yama Budo are most eye-catching.

As beautiful as the Iroshizuku line is, none (except the black) holds up well against water...sigh...

I wonder if anyone has been brave enough to try some mixing experiments with Iro. Inks.

Yes, The Chiku-rin was a bit too dull or bland for me. I mixed it with a touch of Montblanc blue I had in a heel. The mixture simply deepens the Chiku-rin. It does not change the color drastically, but gives it some depth. I like the color better. It is not my go to, but neither is the original fuyu-gaki either.

 

Just colors I wanted to complete my collection of the brand for me. They are probably my something else to use when I am not using any shade of red or the other Iroshizuku colors (as mentioned in another post) which I am drawn to or absolutely love. Yama Budo, Momiji, Tsutsuji currently comes to my heart & mind.

[wijko]

Thank you for the nice comparison. Especially the part for the waterproofness.

[dlyz]

Not sure if it was mentioned previously, Fuyu-Gaki is labelled wrongly on the Mondi 90g swab.

 

Good job for this thread.

[Nathanb]

Thanks for sharing - very helpful

[Mishka5050]

Well done! You have done them all

I think I love all of my purchases lol apart from Chiku-Rin - we fell out, not sure why.

The colour has changed and is now more bamboo than before

 

 

 

[a m a r g o]

Great comparison, thank you!

 

Tsuki-yo for formal writing, being business or a paper, kon-peki and Yama-budo for everything else.

 

I use Yama-buds with smaller nibs and kon-Peki with bigger nibs...

[ink-syringe]

Several years in and 9 different bottles & am gonna call it: Really underwhelmed.

 

Nice bottles but I just don't like the ink that much.

 

I love Asa-gao. I sort of like Kon-peki (but Sky High is the same thing but better, better lube, flow, sheen and shading). I personally don't like Yama-budo but I get why others do and the same with Ku-jaku (just isn't my color). Shin-kai, and Tsuki-yo looked great on screen but underwhelmed in ye ol' meatspace.

 

I could live with out all of them just fine with the exception of Asa-Gao and even that I could get by without if I had access to, say, Visconti Blue.

 

Really find this line wildly over-rated. Well behaved. Decent flow but non of them wow me or make me want to go out and hoard-up like MB, Sailor, Diamine or other brands do.

 

A couple days back I bought three Sailor inks not even knowing what they were. They package them in such a way that if you don't read Japanese you barely have an inkling of what is in the tin unless you look up the stock numbers under the UPC codes or the store make labels for them. I literally just grabbed 3 boxes at random. I was late for an appointment across town and wanted some new colors. I reached back and it turns out I grabbed Ultramarine, Grenade & Tokiwa Matsu.

 

All 3 rule hard and join a half a dozen other magical potions I use by Sailor. In comparison Pilot seems like a box of 'meh' I like their Pilot's old school simple bottle Blue-black better than any of the Iroshizuku Blue-black-esque offerings.

 

With the exception of Asa-gao, which is a good everyday workaday standard blue, I am pretty much done with this brand altogether.

 

My Milage Varied. heh.

[visvamitra]

Well I share your opinion to some extent. Iroshizuku is a proof of what stunning bottle and good marketing can do to our perception of the fluid On the other hand I do enjoy quite a few of them. Sailor is better though, I agree.

[Dhruv_Sood]

I do enjoy Iroshizuku but with only 2 colors with me in Kon-Peki and Tsuki-Yo, I am getting bored. I would have liked a few more choice of colors but at the time of ordering, I really liked these 2. That was 2-3 months ago.

 

I have ordered 11 sailors, all different colors so I hope this variety can lighten things up on the ink front.

[AndyYNWA]

Which of the colors are best when it comes to lightfastness?

I like many of the colors, but I really need an ink in my work that can stand the test of time.

[visvamitra]

Maybe yama-guri and take-sumi? Some of the Iro looks stunning on paper, but after a month or two, the stunning color's long gone and the ink looks flat. I guess you should look for lightfast inks elsewhere: Noodler's Eternal inks + Lexington Grey or Kung Te Cheng, Pigmented inks (Platinum, Sailor nano, Super 5, De Atramentis document inks), KWZI iron gall inks.

[AndyYNWA]

Maybe yama-guri and take-sumi? Some of the Iro looks stunning on paper, but after a month or two, the stunning color's long gone and the ink looks flat. I guess you should look for lightfast inks elsewhere: Noodler's Eternal inks + Lexington Grey or Kung Te Cheng, Pigmented inks (Platinum, Sailor nano, Super 5, De Atramentis document inks), KWZI iron gall inks.

I think I will try de Atramentis, especially Dunkelblau. They seem to have great lightfastness.

[amberleadavis]

On Lightfastness, do you want to know in general what inks are better or specifically, which Iro inks?

[AndyYNWA]

On Lightfastness, do you want to know in general what inks are better or specifically, which Iro inks?

Iroshizuku ink(s) that are best when it comes to lightfastness.

[amberleadavis]

Well, here is a spreadsheet from a prior fade test.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aZnx0HqTLwmocX2rhk5rP1jUUCSzjA7CVrZX8gvKkWY/edit?usp=sharing

 

Hmm........ the spreadsheet doesn't imbed well.

[amberleadavis]

And here are the images.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Tests/Fade/2012/index.html

[DrDebG]

OUTSTANDING REVIEW!

 

Truthfully, however, the Iroshizuku line is my favorite for color, but not for flow and texture. It is a wet ink, which I love, but it feels like I am writing with water regardless of the pen and nib I use. There is that subtle drag that is offputting. I also fully agree with Visvamitra regarding the pricing.

 

BUT, with that said, my favorite color is Asa Gao, with Ajisai close behind. I also love Yama-budo and Ku-Jaku.

[AndyYNWA]

Thanks!

[cybaea]

Well, here is a spreadsheet from a prior fade test.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aZnx0HqTLwmocX2rhk5rP1jUUCSzjA7CVrZX8gvKkWY/edit?usp=sharing

 

Hmm........ the spreadsheet doesn't imbed well.

 

+1 thanks - very useful!

[DrDebG]

Thanks for the fade test spreadsheet! Amazing!