Ink Review #98

*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.

Overview

The color/properties:

Sailor Manyo Ume is a deep red. It offers moderate shading with a crisp cut between light and dark tones where the ink pools. There’s not a lot of tonal variation, but it’s still more visible than I would typically expect from a deeper and more saturated red. There’s also a slight golden/green sheen to this ink. It’s not heavy by any means, but it is easily visible, especially on less absorbent papers that allow the ink to pool longer (for example, Tomoe River, Midori MD, etc).

Of course, Ume has the Sailor ink smell, but it wasn’t quite as strong here as I was expecting.

Rhodia

Leuchtturm1917

Performance on paper:

Right up front, the downside to Ume is that it’s fairly aggressive. There was light feathering and some minor spot bleeding on the Leuchtturm paper, and surprisingly some minor feathering in the Endless Storyboard notebook used for one of the writing samples. There was, of course, feathering and bleeding on the Kokuyo paper as well. Despite the ink being harsh on some of the test papers, it should still be fine with most ink-resistant papers, but using this ink with a wetter-tuned pen would be an easy way to push any paper to its limits.

The dry times were also not the best, often extending from 20-25 seconds with even the fine nib sizes. Even on the Kokuyo paper, the dry times were noticeably poor, with all of the large nib sizes drying at the 15-second mark.

Despite the heavy dark link on the chromatography, the water resistance wasn’t great. Water exposure washes most of the red away, leaving behind a cloudy purple/pink mess. The remains are at least dark enough to be legible.

Midori MD

Maruman

Tomoe River

Kokuyo

Performance in the pen:

Ume has a medium-wet flow and it’s lubricated well enough for a comfortable writing experience across each of the nibs. There were, however, hard starts with the extra fine, fine and broad nibs. Your mileage will most likely vary a lot from nib to nib with this ink, but when it did work well, it was an excellent experience.

As far as cleaning goes, it’s a slow cleaner. It’s not surprising for a saturated red, but it did take a few soaks and flushes to clear this ink from the pen. I was also concerned that the inside of the barrel had been stained, but thankfully, it went away after leaving the pen with water in the barrel overnight. Still, I would proceed with caution when using this ink with light-colored pens, demonstrators, or any kind of integrated filling system to avoid headaches. While I didn’t experience it myself, I also suspect that this ink may be prone to nib creep. At the very least, I would uncap the pen to find a pink haze on the nib. Either way, not a huge deal, but something to consider if nib creep is a deal breaker.

• Performance in a pen: 7/10

• Performance on paper: 6/10

• Color saturation: 8/10

• Sheening: 3/10

• Shading: 5/10

• Dry time: 6/10

• Water resistance: 3/10

• Ease of cleaning: 6.5/10

• Shimmer: None

My personal thoughts...

I still remember my first experience with Sailor Ume. It was at the 2023 DC Pen Show! I was purchasing a pen from the Carolina Pen Company, and when the pen was ready I was presented with two options to top the pen off. I don’t recall option two because I immediately gravitated towards Ume. It was love at first write, and at that same show, I went on the search for a full bottle of my own. A year has gone by since then and I still give this ink my high praise. Of course, it’s far from perfect when tested under greater scrutiny, but despite its minor flaws, it still stands out. Honestly, I’m surprised it hasn’t become more popular among reds.

So… What is Ume? Is it red? If I had to guess, based on the artwork on the bottle, Ume refers to the Japanese Plum Blossom, and they do come in a variety of red, but not that red. Not in my research, at least. The red Ume varieties seem to lean to the pink side more than the deep red reflected in this ink. Perhaps the sheen could represent the flower’s yellow anthers, but it’s too green. In terms of recreating the color, Sailor Ume just doesn’t cut it. Despite that, it’s still an eye-catching and appealing red.

More images/info:

Tools and materials used in the writing samples:

• A TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with 7 nib units including a Needlepoint grind, EF, F, M, B, 1.1mm stub, and an Architect grind. All nibs are tuned to perform at the same medium wetness.

• A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad

• A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook

• A Midori MD A5 Notebook

• A 52gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook

• A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook

• A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook