Pen and ink review: Sailor Manyo series #3

And how limited editions always get me so here’s a toast to Chestnut and Kuri

Before we get into this, my thoughts go out to everyone who had to endure the destruction that was hurricane Helene. I hope you’re safe. It was horrifying.

Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if Sailor pairs adorable pens with unusable inks to make my life difficult, or if I’m just a swine and Sailor Manyo Kuri is actually top notch. Don’t get me wrong, I like me some Sailor inks, especially the more unusual ones like Zare Gokoro and Shirakashi; I never would have bought either one if they didn’t come with a pen or in a random ink sample pack, and yet, I can’t explain how much I’m enjoying them. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to like two inks that came for ‘free’ with the LE pens I bought; the Ice Grey ink with the purchase of the Snowflake Pro Gear Slim (unreadably light) and Kuri (washed out and meh at best).

However, we don’t get Pro Gear Slims for the ink now, do we?

My preferred size is the Pro Gear, and the 21k gold nib is more agreeable to me than the 14k on the Pro Gear Slims; and yet, I keep. Buying. The. Manyo. Series. PGSs. Why? I don’t think it boils down to just FOMO. I also don’t think it’s just for the appealing to the eye aesthetic of them (otherwise I’d be collecting Jinhao 82s for a fraction of the price). It could be the delectable collectibility of them, the sheer desire to have a lineup of fun, pleasant, hard to get pens that will look nice next to each other. I’m a sucker for that. I actually managed to collect all nib sizes too, from EF to music and zoom. Spoiler alert: I hate the EF. Too thin. I may or may not have stabbed myself on it.

Side note, am I the only one who thinks that the old style nibs looked and felt better than new style? Wrote better too? And yet I still collect the new ones like my cat collects my wife’s hair bands: deliriously and in bunches.

The Manyo Series #3 actually introduced several pens I wanted to have, and it took me a while before I decided on Chestnut. The other contenders were Bamboo Shoot and Red Bean, although Persimmon is also good looking (but that orange just didn’t sit well with me). We will not speak about Gourd. All of their finials looked great, though, and kudos to Sailor for making them iridescent.

The main reason I went with Chestnut in the end was because I already had Nuts from series #1 (and I heard about that one on the Pen Addict podcast when Myke gushed about it), and we won’t talk about series #2 because it doesn’t fit my current narrative. However, unlike the Shirakashi ink that I got with the Nuts, Kuri is not my cup of tea.

But the pen? The pen is surprisingly awesome. And I don’t even like green. As do other LE Manyo pens, this pen also arrives in a box that is too big, with the converter nestled in a separate nook, and the ink in its own groove as well. The faux satin cover makes me think of the Sleeping Beauty.

Or maybe Snow White. And the casket. Hm…

The fancy gift set with the Sleeping Beauty; the pen is clearly labeled with the nib size, if you forget what you ordered, which totally never happened to me.

Once you get rid of the… erm… pen condom, you get to enjoy the rhodium trim and rhodium plated nib on a mostly green pen with transparent brown(?) cap, grip, and butt. I went with the M nib so I can have it ground (which I haven’t done yet) and also in order to show off the ink too (which failed).

The ink splatter shows quite a lot of character for such an uninteresting ink, actually. I like the yellow that it gets out of the dark grey-purple. If this is supposed to be a brown ink, I’ll eat my hat.

There’s a new detail for the finial that I particularly enjoy. All of Manyo series pens have a different finial (so not the anchor), but this is the first time that I know that they added a bit more flair to it.

The little chestnut shines and reflects greenish hue. I like.

Now, below is the writing sample and the swatch done with a glass dip pen. Why? Because I like doing it that way for the general swab, but I also like knowing how the ink looks in pens.

Okay so it’s not unreadable but it’s lacking something I can’t put my finger on. I can’t say it doesn’t have character… but it’s the character I hate.

When I use the ink in other nib sizes, I’ll make sure to add it to this page in my Col-o-Ring.

So, the ink has character. It’s not waterproof, and it seems to be on the drier side, which doesn’t bother me as I don’t feel like I’ll be using it much. It has that distinct Sailor crayon smell, which I enjoy. There is no bleed, no ghosting, and no feathering if you use it on solid paper. Overall, this is a solid ink if you’re into muddy whatever this color is supposed to be. Again, given that Sailor has the Shikiori line and Kitsune Biyori amongst it, I don’t see why one would go for Kuri instead of that one, for example, but you do you.

The pen? I like the transparent cap and I definitely love the finial. The Sailor feedback is obviously there. Basically, as someone who has quite a few Sailor PGSs, I’d say that you should get one that you like; don’t fall for their mesmerizing limited editions that come up more often than my cat tries to sneak away with one of my pens. Out of all the Manyo pens so far, I still think Nuts looked the best, but series #3 have been a joy to look at as well. You can’t make a mistake if you end up getting one of them; you will make a mistake if you continue collecting them like there’s no tomorrow, though.

What’s your secret Sailor love and why is it Nuts too?