Sailor Nano – Sei-Boku (Pigmented Blue-Black)

[crahptacular]

Sailor Nano – Sei-Boku (Pigmented Blue-Black)

 

This ink already has many quality reviews, so I thought about skipping it, but as several older reviews have broken links and images, I figured it wouldn't hurt to add a new one to the pile. I’m not sure if I’d personally call this a blue-black (though to be fair, that category of color always confuses me...they're all blue to me!), but I’m a big fan of this ink. It’s well-behaved, attractive, and practical. The downside is that Sailor’s pigmented inks are more expensive than their standard inks. They are still as reasonably priced as other “premium” ink lines such as Iroshizuku or Edelstein (that is to say, way too expensive for some people, bearable for others). If I were forced to cull my ink collection down to a small handful, this one would probably remain among the survivors, not because of any one property, but just because it's so darn usable.

 

In the diverse family of blue-black inks, Sei-boku is definitely on the lighter side, to the point where I wouldn’t think to include “black” in its name. It has a hint of green in it, but not much. Of course, the ink is pigmented, so the line it leaves holds up well to water. In my doodle, the straight line outlines were drawn in first and dried for a few minutes before using a brush. As you can see, the original lines remain extremely clean and dark despite a lot of water and vigorous brushing. I’ve never had this ink misbehave on me in any way. I’ve read about some users having issues with smearing and staining. As far as smearing is concerned, I rubbed vigorously on my writing samples to no effect, including the very wet lines from flex dip nibs. Perhaps humidity has something to do with this. Only a little bit of smearing occurred on the ink splatter, because it was not fully dry when I ran my finger through it. As far as staining is concerned, I’ve the same demonstrator filled with Sei-boku for a few months, and have not noticed any staining. Perhaps the issue is limited to certain plastics/materials, and I have just been lucky.

 

Lubrication: Moderate

Shading: Moderate-High

Sheen: Substantial (red sheen, visible in regular writing with the right nib/paper combo)

Water Resistance: Very High (some blue washes off the top, but the line left behind is virtually as dark as it started)

Other notes: The ink has a bit of a chemical smell to it, but much less so than its cousin Kiwa-Guro, which smells like a permanent marker. It doesn’t bother me (I don’t even notice it normally, as my nose isn’t usually next to the wet ink).

 

The following sample was done with a Wingsung 698 (Steel Fine) on Tomoe River (52gsm, white, loose-leaf) and a water brush for the doodle. Flex writing was done with a Trionfo 900 dip nib.

 

Bad Scanner Disclaimer: Scan came out a bit too green. The darkest portions should not be as close to teal as they appear. Also, forgive the wrinkle marks on the scan; I had to apply a lot of water to this to make it wash. Those aren't smears! Photo included is a better representation of actual color, but I only have a phone camera, so the quality is what it is.

 

Scan:

 

Photo:

 

Comparison inks from left to right (big smear is the featured ink):

Kobe Nagasawa #51 Kano-Cho Midnight, L’Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Omi Osun, Kyo no Oto #5 Aonibi, L’Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Oconto, Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo

[antichresis]

Great review. Thanks! Can't wait to see your next ones

[visvamitra]

Stunning review.

[Tas]

This review

 

YOUR DRAWING

I doff my hat in your general direction. Thanks again.

[fireant]

Fantastic review!

[KellyMcJ]

I love this ink! It's currently my everyday carry ink and I have a pen in my purse inked with it and one in my desk.

 

The color is both unique and so darn practical! I find it to be more on the teal side, but just enough to stand out. I haven't had a single problem with either of the pens inked with it either.

[namrehsnoom]

Wow! Fantastic presentation of the ink! This blue looks stunning, I quite like it. Going onto my must-buy list.

[rudyhou]

that's a nice blue. and i enjoy your style of review

[DrDebG]

Another great review!

[NicolausPiscator]

I have to say that I didn't like Sei-Boku, but after your overwhelming review I will give it a new chance. Thank you!

[fountainpagan]

Not my kind of colour, but the review and the drawing are superbe.

 

Thank you.

[catalyst]

You're killing it with these drawing reviews. I agree its nice to see some of the oldies get new fresh reviews. Also thanks for scanning and taking photos as well, I appreciate the effort.

 

As far as this ink goes I love it, and I would compare mine the drawing in the photo as I find it to be a very light "blue-black" ink. Either way it is very well behaved and I have left mine in a cheap Jinhao 992 for a couple months and it hasn't so much as skipped once.

[Ghost Plane]

First time I've seen this next to #51. Thank you. Awesome review!

[haruka337]

This ink never receives its due. It's wonderful, yet, an undervalued gem in the Sailor line.

I love it and will always have a bottle of it on hand.

[pyotrkot]

Thank-you crahptacular for this beautiful review. This is the first time i have seen ink tested by creating art with it. Your timing was perfect - since my sample vial just arrived this afternoon.

Either way it is very well behaved and I have left mine in a cheap Jinhao 992 for a couple months and it hasn't so much as skipped once.

This is very reassuring for me as i just inked a Jinhao from a sample i received today and was hoping it would prove to be well mannered. Now, knowing that to be the case i will try it out for the next week or two and expect to order a full bottle at that point.

 

I have already written a long paragraph, let it dry, then held the Rhodia paper under a tap. The test sample was written with a Hero F nib and as far as i could tell there was no change at all. Wow, impressive! I anticipate it becoming my everyday ink.

Edited September 21, 2017 by Inkroyable

[grasshopper]

Wooooo.... stunning review! That artwork is beautiful.

 

I've returned to enjoying Blue-blacks in the past couple of years (since I got bored of it during my schoolboy days, decades ago). Yup yup yup... gotta try this one!

[IndigoBOB]

Great review.

 

I myself am moving in the direction of blue blacks and have this Sei Boku on order.

 

I was considering the Noodler's 54th Mass as well, but the ink sample and bottle I tried were so wet they bled through on Tomoe River using a Fine Metropolitan, so I am looking forward to when my Sei Boku arrives.

[crahptacular]

This morning, I cleaned out my pen that has been filled with Sei-Boku for the last 6 or so months with irregular use. This is a WingSung 698 demonstrator with a transparent plastic feed. I cleaned it by rinsing with plain water. There has been slight staining of the feed in two grooves near the tip. The pen barrel has a slight black stain where the piston usually rests; this was there before I filled with Sei-Boku, so it wasn't caused by this ink. There pen cap also was slightly blue due to ink trapped behind the inner cap (you can see it in the second photo), but it wiped clean with plain water and a tissue.

 

In the review I said I had no staining issues, which turns out is almost, but not quite true. Instead, I should say that I have had no staining issues in pens that I cleaned somewhat regularly (every one or two months), and have had minor staining in this one circumstance. YMMV, especially if you have different pen hygiene habits than me.

 

Photos of the pen after a rinse:

 

[KellyMcJ]

I'm impressed with how easily the ink cleaned up with plain water, being a nano particle ink. Good show!

[IndigoBOB]

I'm impressed, too, cuz the feed of the 698 stains so easily from inks used. Tsuki stained the heck out of mine and was not at all easy to remove close to the level showed in that photo.