Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun

This sample was a gift from the Andersons, but not explicitly for review, and not really as a gift to me. Full disclosure.

I've got a lot of Faber-Castell and Caran d'Ache inks to show, but I feel like it's a good idea to go from grey to grey since I have them both in the stack, and they're likely to be enjoyed by the same people. So, following Stone Grey, here is Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun.

It's a very different grey, and I don't like it as much. I feel like I could like it much more than I do, but it needs more saturation and more flow. It's a little dry and it's too light. This sample was given to Audrey by the Andersons, and she wanted it in her coral Lamy Safari because the colors would look cool together. That pen was an XF nib, and it just didn't work with this ink. The ink was too dry and too weak to be useable in an extra fine. So, if you're an XF user then this ink isn't going to be for you.

I put a medium nib on that pen, and it was useable for her. This is one of those inks that really needs a big nib.

The problem with this ink isn't hue, it's saturation. If I could get Pilot to over-saturate it for me, then I'd probably love it. As it is, I don't. You might. It's an ink that performs well, aside from being way too light. You'll notice that I used an Anderson Pens Proper Pad for this review. I did that because Fuyu-Syogun doesn't work well on Rhodia. It's too pale to read, and it doesn't absorb into the paper, so it is hardly visible. Stick to regular papers for this ink.

Compared to the other two greys that I've reviewed recently, this one is an interesting color. It's almost a blueish-grey. I kinda like that better than the straight-up greys that I've used but, at the same time, I can't really use Fuyu-Syogun because it's too light.