Kakimori Rollerball Pen Review

Hello everybody and welcome back to ANOTHER pen review. This post is something special because it is not a fountain pen but an actual rollerball that takes fountain pen ink! 

Let me start by talking about the brand which is Kakimori. Kakimori creates writing tools and accessories such as pens, inks, notebooks, letter sets, and general stationery. Their designs are beautiful, natural, and blend in the environment effortlessly. 

The Kakimori Rollerball pens come in two sizes, 0.5mm and 0.7mm, both of which I bought from Yoseka Stationery for $27 each. The price is amazing considering it comes with the pen, a converter, ink dropper, and a 10ml plastic cup along with instructions. This can take cartridges but I did not try this with cartridges as I don't have any and have too many ink bottles.

The pen is completely clear and the ink can be seen in the feed and converter. The clip is metal and springy and the finial on the cap is also metal. The converter is clear with metal trim to match the pen. On the 0.5mm cap the Kakimori logo is in black while on the 0.7mm cap it is in white, making it easy to tell which tip size it is. Inside the cap is a plastic that helps the ink not dry up while not in use. These are both very easy and secured when posted plus are not heavy at all making them great to carry around. I really like the grip section as it is soft but not squishy.

Sadly, I did not have any Kakimori inks to try this with so I used J. Herbin Vert Amazon in the 0.5mm and J. Herbin Violette Pensee in the 0.7mm. I do not think shimmer inks will work in these considering how rollerballs work which is why I picked what I did to use with these. These were very easy to fill and had no issues with them. I used the ink dropper to get some ink out of the bottles and into the little plastic cups provided, filled up the converters from the cup, place the converter on, and left them for a few minutes to let the ink flow into the feed. 

These write amazingly and have no skips or hard stops. I am super happy these pens work great cause now I can make progress with using up more ink.

Overall I would highly recommend this especially to those not willing to buy a fountain pen but want to experience fountain pen ink that doesn't have shimmer in it as well as anybody with a favorite ink but don't want to carry around an expensive pen. 

Thank you for reading as always, until next time, stay hyped!

Kuretake ZIG Clean Color Dot Review

So happy to finally get to this post because these markers are so cool. Kuretake also has brush markers and even special brush markers for calligraphy. However, we will only focus on what I bought every single last color of which is the Clean Color Dot!

Now as you can guess by the name this marker has a spongy dot end on one side which is perfect for making interesting dot art or adding little dots in a blank background. The other end is a felt tip. The felt tip is 0.5mm unless its the metallic which has a 1mm tip. In total there are 18 standard colors and 6 metallic colors.

The price of these is really good at about $3.50 each if you only want a few, or if you want them all you can buy the 12 colors set, the six-color set, and the metallic set for about $80 in total which comes down to $3.33 per marker. I bought most of mine from TokyoPenShop and a few from Kinokuniya when they had them.

This marker design is a standard dual marker with a clear cap on the dot end and a solid color cap on the tip end. It doesn't feel too thick cause you know you have a good grip on it. It is a long marker but it does fit in my standard pencil case which is good since it has it must be kept horizontal. So far none of these have dried out or leaked so I think as long as you keep them horizontal they should be fine!

What makes this marker great is that you can create dots from 1mm to 5mm with ease. It does need a bit of time to dry but that is why I always have some blotting paper on me. 

There is no issue with using them but there is a bit of ghosting on Tomoe River Paper especially if you are using the Hobonichi Techo. They will bleed through Tomoe River if you press down hard enough.

Overall I do recommend these if you like to add dots and a little bit of color to your journals.

Kokuyo PASTA Soft Marker Review

I am finally back with another stationery review! I feel as if I been focusing too much on the pen reviews but I still have a handful more fountain pens to cover along with stationery.

This post will be all about the Kokuyo PASTA Soft Markers! These gained sudden popularity after they added even more colors to the collection making it a very good set to get. I have all the colors so far so let us jump into it.

To start off the price of these are $4 each and there is a total of 30 normal colors and 5 neon/fluorescent colors. Thus if you buy them individually it is $140 which is pricey overall. The first ones I bought were from Baum-Kuchen and the rest were from Yoseka Stationery. What I like about them is that these are refillable and the refills cost a little under $3. It is easy to replace the refill and each refill is a pack of two.

The overall shape is rectangular with a rectangular grip section. The other end is very easy to twist to push more of the soft marker out. You can even reverse the twist with no problem. The body comes with a sticker that has the name of the color on it and the cap has the color ID.

Now the major reason why this is a soft marker is that it writes like a smooth crayon but instead of wax or oil, it is water-based and easy to layer. It glides effortlessly on any paper making this an amazing highlighter or drawing marker. I personally started using these for highlighting in my Hobonichi Techo but now I also use them to color when I have too much on my mind and want to relax.

Some colors like the brown one when you layer it a lot will rub onto the other page, so if using this in a planner try not to layer it so much.

Overall I love these but would recommend them if people are looking for a highlighter and or drawing marker at the same time as it is pricey. I personally don't like highlighters but these I lot using all the time. If you love the texture it gives and how smooth it is this is worth the investment!

Sailor Shikiori Markers Review

Hello to yet another stationery review! Feel like I should make some good headway on the stationery I do have and use since many people have wondered why I have so many pencil cases and the reason is for all the pens, lead pencils, and markers I have, and one of them is a complete set of Sailor brand Shikiori dual markers which I will tell you all about in this post.

I will try to start with the price since that might be the make it or break it point if getting some or all of these. I found these brand new on eBay for $50 which was a steal and I don't think people would be selling these for that price anymore so I will list Yoseka Stationery's link here, which is the set for $60. A set of 20 markers for that price isn't bad as it comes down to $3 per marker, especially for this quality.

These became popular when Hobobichi started selling the packs of five on their website. Thankfully more stores have them available so it is easier to obtain.

These markers are modeled after the Sailor Shikiori fountain pen inks and are both fine and brush tip markers. The fine tip is great to fit items in your monthly calendar boxes while the brush is great for hand lettering. The brush side is spongy and gives a bit and makes the large script look amazing.

The colors are perfect and give has nice natural and neutral feel to them. None of the colors are too bright or too dark. 

What is amazing about the pen body is that the cap on the brush side has a stopper so it won't roll off your desk when placed down. It can also cap on both sides which is super handy for anybody that worries they will lose the cap. Bonus us that you know the cap is secure by hearing a satisfying click.

Overall I highly recommend these to anybody on the search for markers or journaling or anything planner related. The colors are stunning, both ends are very useful and the overall design of the marker looks and feels great.

If you love these markers as well let me know in the comments. Until next time, stay hype!

Ca.Crea: Single Notebook System and How I been Using it

Hello and welcome back to another stationery post. I have gone over all my planners and systems except the one notebook I use to draft these blog posts! So lets over it now in 2021.

To be honest I didn't know people knew about this notebook until I actually started chatting with people in the planner community. They knew about it but not many people use it, at least that is true in the US. I bought my first one in an Etsy store that sells Japanese stationery from a very amazing seller which I will link. By the time this post is up, I would have had this for a year and bought several more from Amazon Japan. 

The first one I used was the Ca.Crea A4x1/3 regular with 5mm grid, which came with a limited edition Winnie the Pooh plastic cover. Now I am using the Ca.Crea A4x1/3 Premium Cloth with 5mm grid which is fountain pen friendly, using the same cover. The notebooks also lay down flat when you open them which is an amazing feature any daily writer will enjoy.

The first one I used is on the left while the one I am using now is on the right.

The limited-edition Winnie the Pooh cover.

Inside of the Winnie the Pooh cover.

The premium cloth refills I got from Amazon Japan.

There are different covers but I haven't seen them being sold anywhere yet besides Amazon Japan under the PLUS company. If I like one I might try it and write an update post on it.

Now the reason why this notebook is not in my Roterfaden or Traveler's Notebook is due to its slightly taller size, making it not fit as well with the other books cause it is taller. It is made to be a stand-alone compact book for jotting down lists, sketching, and writing ideas on the go.

The reason why I continued using this is that it was perfect for writing up blog posts! I write each blog post out before I type them up just so I get a better idea of what pictures, links, and added research snippets I will need to put in. Filling up a page is the minimum I write for any post not including pictures and descriptions. I also like to carry it around if I am going to be outside for a few hours or most of the day. This size fits also perfectly in my analogue travel pouch. The only issue is that this notebook has almost no popularity in the US market so if I want refills I must rely on Amazon Japan and Etsy sellers.

I think more people could benefit from any of the selections of Ca.Crea notebooks cause of how easy it is to carry and how the size is great for lists, notes, and tracking. With some index tabs, you can organize it the way you like it and make it really handy in everyday life.

Let me know what you think about this notebook in the comments below. Until next time, stay hype!