Ink Flight #45 Reveal, October 2020

After sampling the beautiful, nature-inspired colors of the Sailor Manyo collection (Ink Flight #36, January 2020), we jumped at the chance to feature the new set of Manyo inks released this fall. And wow, these colors did not disappoint!

The Sailor "Manyo" fountain pen ink collection features colors inspired by flowers and plants mentioned in the "Manyosyu" anthology of poems written in AD 759. In writing the descriptions for each of these colors, I did my best to research each name to find the plant/flower that it represented.

Sailor does an outstanding job at crafting a quality fountain pen ink that provides a beautiful, unique hue and extra qualities like sheen or dual-shading. Additionally, their inks are well behaved and minimal trouble to clean. It's always a pleasure to revisit new colors within this brand. Their ink is always welcome in my pens.

Here is a rundown of October 2020's Ink Flight colors - 

Sailor Manyo "Sakura"
The sakura (cherry blossom) is Japan’s national flower. It has pale pink petals much like the color of this ink. You might be able to see a slight yellow undertone to the shading of this ink.

Sailor Manyo "Nadeshiko"
This dual-shading light purple ink embodies the beauty of the delicate frilled pink carnation Dianthus superbus. There are tones of blue, purple, and pink depending on the nib size, flow, and paper you use.

Sailor Manyo "Shirakashi"
The Japanese White Oak has evergreen leaves that are long with a pointed tip like a bamboo leaf. The color has a muted, murky quality that exists between green and brown.

Sailor Manyo "Ukikusa"
The light green color of "floating weeds" like duckweed is perfectly translated to this leafy ink. The ink shades nicely around the stroke edges.

Sailor Manyo "Konagi"
This bold, medium-toned blue ink has a reddish-purple sheen. Not sure on the relation to plants/flowers.But, I’m pretty sure I don’t care - this ink is awesome. It reminds me of Sailor Souten, which is one of my all-time favorite blue inks. Konagi's tone is slightly lighter and less-saturated than Souten.

Sailor Manyo "Ume"
Taking inspiration from the Japanese plum tree, "Ume" has a deep wine red color with a slight golden sheen. A redder, scarlet alternative to the previous Manyo color "Kuzu."

Sailor Manyo "Chigaya"
Free-flowing with a slight hint of sheen, this black ink is named after a species of wooly cottongrass. 

Tasting Notes: I've been told many times that I must have psychic powers and read the minds of Ink Flight subscribers to determine the inks and items that go in each shipment. While I cannot confirm or deny this superpower, I do believe that the Ink Master at Sailor has this same ability regarding fountain pen ink. Sailor knows what pen and ink enthusiasts love - quality inks with unique hues that offer the extra dimension of sheening or shading. These inks are a lot of fun to play with and I'm looking forward to using them again during the November #30inks30days writing challenge.

Big thanks to Manda B., Angeliz Stationery Room, and Productive Dragon for sharing their Ink Flight #45 unboxing experiences on YouTube. Since I neglected to take a picture of the box extras before they completely sold out, I'll include the embedded videos so you can see all the goodies included in this month's box.

Box Extras: Stalogy 1/2 Year Editor's Series Notebook - A6 Size

The Stalogy 365 1/2 Year A6 is a minimalist-style notebook suitable for the unique daily needs of all kinds of writers. It may seem small (105 x 148mm x 8mm), but this notebook packs 192 pages of thin, Japanese-made paper. The carefully-selected notebook paper is strong enough to prevent ink bleedthrough.

Although this notebook meant to contain 1/2 a year, it is not dated. Instead, Stalogy formatted the top of each page to allow the user to underline or highlight the current month, day, and date.

Additionally, you can log appointments and schedule the day using a timeline that runs vertically down the page. The light grey, 5mm grid is light and unobtrusive for neat writing and drawing.

For this month's swag, we included an Ink Flight button that can be proudly worn as a piece of "fountain pen flair."

Let's chat about this Flight

We invite you to join hundreds of kindred spirits in the Ink Flight Lounge Facebook Group to talk about this month's Flight Box. Likes? Dislikes? Favorite pairings? We'd love to read what you thought about the contents of this box. If you don't have/do Facebook, please feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Previous Ink Flights (Ink Flight #1 - Noodler's, Ink Flight #2 - Robert Oster Signature, Ink Flight #3 - KWZ, Ink Flight #4 - J. Herbin, Ink Flight #5 - P.W. Akkerman, Ink Flight #6 - Papier Plume, Ink Flight #7 - Platinum Mix-Free, Ink Flight #8 - Franklin-Christoph, Ink Flight #9 - Organics Studio, Ink Flight #10 - Monteverde, Ink Flight #11 - Krishna, Ink Flight #12 - Caran d'Ache, Ink Flight #13 - Rohrer & Klingner, Ink Flight #14 - Blackstone, Ink Flight #15 - Colorverse, Ink Flight #16 - De Atramentis, Ink Flight #17 - Aurora & Montegrappa, Ink Flight #18 - Krishna, KWZ, Papier Plume, Ink Flight #19 - Diamine, Ink Flight #20 - J. Herbin, Ink Flight #21 - Robert Oster Signature 80's Collection, Ink Flight #22 - 3 Oysters, Ink Flight #23 - InkJournal Holiday Blend, Ink Flight #24 - Taccia, Ink Flight #25 - Kyoto TAG, Ink Flight #26 - Kaweco, Ink Flight #27 - April Fool's Surprise, Ink Flight #28 - Pelikan, Ink Flight #29 - Sailor, Ink Flight #30 - Straits Pen Honest Inks, Ink Flight #31 - Colorverse, Season 5, Ink Flight #32 - Inks by Vinta, Ink Flight #33 - Troublemaker, Ink Flight #34 - Monteverde Sweet Life, Ink Flight #35 - Taccia Inks Pt. 2, Ink Flight #36 - Sailor Manyo, Ink Flight #37 - P.W. Akkerman, Ink Flight #38 - Waterman, Ink Flight #39 - April Fool's Suprise II, Ink Flight #40 - Lamy, Ink Flight #41 - KWZ, Pt.2, Ink Flight #42 - Robert Oster, Pt. 3, Ink Flight #43 - Pure Pens, Ink Flight #44 - Kiwi Inks )