I've never been on the Muji Stationery hype train. From when they became popular to now, I've stuck with my other black pens and because I felt like they were a little... overhyped for what they were? The only thing I might have considered wanting to get would be their black ink pens and the paper (refills for my Kokuyo Campus binder notebooks). So when I was going on my annual back to school shopping spree, I decided to pick this pen up to try it out.
First impressions/Pros:
- Clean design! I know this is what they're known for but holding such a barebones, minimalistic pen for once was an experience. I still like all of my colorful limited edition Pentel Energel bodies though!
- Surprisingly smooth ink. I heard that the original Muji pen (the one with the cap) was a little scratchy (?) and was designed to have a slight rattle when you write for a more tactile feel. I did feel some of that, but otherwise it wrote beautifully!
Cons:
- It smudges horribly. I'm used to Pentel Energels, Sarasa Mark-Ons, and bLen ink, and they all dry very quickly on all types of paper. As a student, it's very important that my writing dries quickly so that I can move onto the next paragraph/not worry about smudging! After some trial and error, it seems to dry after about 15 seconds.
- Highlighting seems to be a no-go. I tried it with my Mildliners and it seems like they smudge horribly after the 15 second dry test from before. I waited another 15 seconds (so 30 seconds total), and it works.