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.

Kuretake Karappo Brush Pen Review

Hello and welcome back to another review. Really feel like I need to cover more pens in general and not just fountain pens so I am happy to finally write about Kuretake Karappo pens!

Now if you never heard of these, the Karappo pens were created to go with Kuretake's "Ink Cafe" which I suggest anybody lookup cause you can mix colors to create your own ink color which sounds crazy but also so much fun and I personally want to try it one day when I finally used up all the ink samples I am hoarding (as usual). So these pens are made to be filled with ink, but these are not fountain pens nor standard click pens, as these have a core that you drip in your ink of choice and let the ink get soaked up and places in the body of the pen to be used.

The overall design of these is very simple and minimal which is great considering that you fill these with whatever you want. You can see the ink-soaked core inside, the cap snaps when closed, and it is lightweight making it a nice option for travel or stationery meet-ups especially if you didn't bring a fountain pen but want to use ink.

The price point is very nice actually. I bought all of mine from Yoseka Stationery and they come in a pack of five or single. The single pens are $3 which is amazing but the five-pack is $12 making it a buy 4 get one free.

The ones I got are brush tips, the other option is felt tips. It is very easy to write with and makes nice strokes. 

Filling these with ink is very satisfying to watch as the ink climbs up the core. I have been filling these with ink samples and they use about 2ml of ink. This is perfect cause now you can buy ink samples and still write with them using these making this a very cheap writing experience.

Filling them up with Lennon Tool Bar ink samples from Yoseka Stationery.

There is one major downside to these pens and it is the fact they can not take shimmer. The core does not allow the shimmer particles to travel through it so all the nice shimmer will get stuck on the end of the core you dripped in the ink. For example, these will not work with J. Herbin 1670 anniversary inks cause if you place them in the Karappo it will write as if all the shimmer was taken out. This is actually the reason why I been using these with Lennon Tool Bar inks cause none of them contain shimmer.

Overall I can't recommend these enough. They are so well priced, a great way to use fountain pen ink without a fountain pen, and really fun!

Thank you so much for reading! Let me know if you love using Kuretake Karappo pens too and until next time, stay hyped!