Sailor Kikyou : A Chameleon

[Uncial]

I picked up Kikyou from the new Sailor Manyo series expecting a darkish teal. It isn't.

What i got was a very boring, heavily grey toned blue with no sheen, very poor flow, an ink lacking lubrication and one that dried out on the nib the same second I would lift the nib off the page. In short, I felt abit irritated that I bought an expensive lemon, easily the worst ink I've bought in a long time.

 

I was a bit confused at reading reviews which all seem to be very different. One showed a very deep red sheen. Even dripping it on the page I was unable to get that on Tomoe. Another review said it was fast drying at twelve seconds but lovely and smooth to write with. Mine dries in just under three seconds on the page but feels dry and horrible to write with. Yet another review showed it in a stub of double broad as a complex deep teal, but i used it in a stub and double broad and gave up due to persistent dry out.

 

I can return it and possibly exchange it for another bottle but I wanted to make sure I have a dud bottle before I go down that route. Has anyone else picked up this ink and found it to be terrible or great?

[Intensity]

I don't have any Sailor Manyo inks, but I've looked through sample photographs and scans for all the inks in the line out of curiosity. Yomogi is the teal one, Kikyou seems like a darker blue, possibly with some teal elements depending on illumination.

 

 

Images from goulet.com:

Product ad:

 

 

Sailor Manyo Yomogi, images from Anderson Pens:

 

 

From goulet.com:

 

Edited July 17, 2020 by Intensity

[A Smug Dill]

Has anyone else picked up this ink and found it to be terrible or great?

Forums search is your friend, my friend. Wonderfully, both opinions have been expressed.

 

The Kikyou is in my KoP and I tried it agin today: it makes it feel like writing with sand.

 

I suggest trying a new ink - Sailor Manyo Kikyou. It is a nice dark blue but has a beautiful red sheen to it. It is also fairly wet and lubricated and should work well. I have it in an Lamy Safari with EF nib which is a dry nib, and in Faber Castel Emotion in Broad nib, which is a fairly wet nib. The ink performs wonderfully in both.

[TheDutchGuy]

^—The quote from 5Cavaliers above could just as well have been about ‘basic’ Sailor Jentle Blue, which is also a dark-ish blue with a strong red sheen, good flow and lubrication and suitable for many pens and many kinds of paper. Jentle Blue is one of the most impressive ‘work horse’ inks in my opinion.

 

Going back on topic: Sailor makes so many inks that it must be a challenge for them to come up with something new. I’ve not been sufficiently impressed (yet?) by the Manyo range to buy a bottle. And as Dill showed, opinions vary.

[Uncial]

The strange thing is that it doesn't even come close to resembling any of the pictures of it I've seen online which leaves me wondering if I've got a dud bottle. It might be that the flow issues make it look like a washed out grey-blue though and it's good to hear that someone else felt it was like writing with sand. That's a very accurate description of it. I have the Ha-Ha, Akebi and Yomogi and enjoy them. Yomogi is a particularly good icy blue with a weird subtlety and lovely shading. I'm not sure I'd call it teal, but it does sort of lean that direction.

[Karmachanic]

This is why the ink gods gave us SAMPLES

[MHBru]

hmmm.. I have kikyou in active consideration ... love the color but the complaints about dryness really bother me.... i hate dry ink... anyone ever use it with white lightning from vanness?