Sailor Kobe #55 Nankinmachi Fortune Red

[lgsoltek]

When this ink was released I was not impressed. The official swab shows yet another Sailor orange-red and I was not interested. A few days ago Amber the inknabler shared a scan of it and it looks intriguing, so I pulled the trigger. And here it is. This is probably the last review I do before I leave for France in late August. (So sad to say goodbye to my precious ink collection here for a few years...)

 

Nankinmachi Fortune Red is a vibrant red with pink undertone but not too much. It's actually less orange than say Nipponia nippon or Irori. I find it more interesting than Irori. This ink has depth. Especially with a wet pen, where it shades it gives a darker colour and it's quite lovely. It also has a golden sheen. This ink reminds me of Chinese New Year, which is what the name refers to.

 

Splash

Sample

(Pilot 912 FA, Maruman looseleaf)

(Tomoe River)

Comparison

(This is a scan: My scanner oversaturates red hue. See below for a photo.)

Comparing with:

Sailor Pen Gallery The Redshirt (more orange)

Kingdom Note Nipponia nippon (similar to The Redshirt but less saturated)

Bung Box Lycoris Red (much pinker)

Sailor Irori (similar to Nipponia nippon, with less orange)

Diamine Wild Strawberry (pinker)

Diamine Poppy Red (more orange. My bottle has probably gone bad. The ink feels viscous and the wet ink on paper has an oily film. Et tu Diamine?)

Sheaffer Skrip Red (IMO the truest red of all)

Levenger Cardinal Red (looks very magenta in comparison!)

(Photo. Not exactly what I see either, just to give you an idea.)

Sheen

 

 

[migo984]

I adore this ink. I included it in one of Amber's CRVs because it wasn't getting much love here on the forums, so I'm very pleased to see finally a positive review of it.

[lgsoltek]

I adore this ink. I included it in one of Amber's CRVs because it wasn't getting much love here on the forums, so I'm very pleased to see finally a positive review of it.

 

 

I guess we have to blame Sailor's (or Kobe's) swab! It looks as if they were trying to convince us NOT to buy their ink!

Edited July 11, 2016 by Lgsoltek

[migo984]

I guess we have to blame Sailor's (or Kobe's) swab! It looks as if they were trying to convince us NOT to buy their ink!

I take no notice of official swabs :-) I bought the ink as soon as it was released, a few months ago, as I suspected it would be a good 'un :-)

[lgsoltek]

I take no notice of official swabs :-) I bought the ink as soon as it was released, a few months ago, as I suspected it would be a good 'un :-)

 

 

Found it. It's this photo that turned me off:

 

http://kobe-nagasawa.co.jp/system/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/55-1024x768.png

[migo984]

Found it. It's this photo that turned me off:

 

http://kobe-nagasawa.co.jp/system/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/55-1024x768.png

Yes agree - that's a poor representation of a wonderful colour.

[visvamitra]

I'm not sure if I would like this ink but it looks much better here yhan on swab.

[Cyber6]

I was totally turned off by the Kobe swab... and since I just was amazingly disappointed with Ocher... I passed on this ink.

 

I am glad to see is a much nicer/interesting one. And YES, I do find the new Irori much more in the orange side than I remember.

 

 

Thanks for the wonderful review Lgsoltek.

 

 

 

C.

[gylyf]

Not bad. But I'd still take The Redshirt over this one.

[mongrelnomad]

Ooh. Now this is interesting. It seems to right Irori's wrongs...

[Mew]

Nice, bought this one today. Should be here today.