Kokuyo NeoCritz Flat Pencil Case Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

When you love bags and you love pens and pencils, pen cases tend to be an intersection of many joys. They are for me. And Kokuyo generally makes good ones, but I don’t love the NeoCritz Flat Pencil Case. I say this with full awareness that I'm a bit particular. But I feel like "flat" is not the best shape for storing three-dimensional objects, especially more than a few of them.

The adorable, limited-edition floral patterns are what first caught my eye on these--plus the Kokuyo brand, which is one that often delights me. The design also seemed innovative, and I have to try every new kind of pen case.

The concept here is that the case, which has two zippers, can unzip into a standing wedge shape and serve as a handy pen cup--then it can be zipped closed and taken on the go. When in cup form, the top can also fold down. It's a great idea in theory, but doesn't quite work for me in practice.

The biggest limitation to this case is its capacity. The slim design only holds a few pens, and the smaller front pocket--which is great and convenient when the case is in cup form--has to be essentially empty for the case to close at all. Anything larger than a slim eraser will block the zipper. And maximum zipped capacity is around ten skinny pens. When it's in cup form, though, it can hold at least twice that. I love this way more as a pen cup than as a case.

I think this could work well if you only need a few supplies, like a sketch set or a handful of paint brushes you want to take out on an adventure. But it doesn't work terribly well as storage, or if you, like me, want to bring All The Colors with you at all times.

I am happy to use it as a cheerful pen cup. The colors are wonderful, and the polyester fabric cleans up well. And the double zipper does make access easy, even when the case is nested in a crowded backpack. It does have a lot going for it, and I expect it would delight many users. As I said, I'm a bit picky. You could probably hand me a pen case the size of the Hindenburg and I'd say that I wish it held more pens. But I really do wish this one held more pens.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Kokuyo NeoCritz Worxus Pencil Case Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

There's a pencil case or organizer available for every situation you can think of. It's this vast variety that makes choosing a case so difficult, and it's also why I have so many cases in my closet that don't get used as often as they should. So many cases!

One trend I've noticed over the years is that cases usually try to solve specific carry requirements. Pen cases versus wood pencil cases, notebook cases versus stationery supply cases. The list goes on, but I've been really interested in generic stationery cases that can hold a wide assortment of things.

The Kokuyo NeoCritz Worxus case is one that falls in the latter category — generic stationery storage. While it's marketed as a pencil case, it really excels at storing chunkier items. Pencil sharpeners, erasers, headphones, lip balm, multi-tools, small notepads, and even some pens and pencils!

The exterior of this case is similar to many cases, in that you can tell it's some sort of long pen pouch. The zipper runs the entire top of the case, rounds the corner, and continues to the base. There are leather pull tabs on the top of the zipper and the zipper pull as well. It looks really sleek on the outside and fits in with any environment, especially with the black fabric on my copy.

Once you unzip the case, the zipped side is allowed to expand a bit, which makes it easy to open it wide and see what's inside. There's a lot of organization happening in this small space, but let's start at the top of the panel on the left side of the case. There's a small sleeve that provides a great spot to clip pens and pencils onto so that they're within easy reach and kept out of the bottom pouch where they could get scratched or difficult to find. It's a pretty lightweight pen/pencil storage system, but it's nice to have. This is one of the main reasons that I view this case as a generic stationery case versus a pen or pencil case.

Moving down the left side of the case, there's a zipper pouch that runs the length of the interior. This is a shallow pouch that has no real dimension, but the interior side is a mesh material that makes it easy to see what you've stored in here. This is great for cables and small adapters, earplugs, spare erasers for mechanical pencils, mechanical pencil lead, and anything else that is quite small. While the zipper pouch does run the full length of the case, it isn't attached to the long wall, meaning it also serves as a sleeve or divider for items that you don't want to mix in with the larger open compartment.

The main compartment is open and quite large given the overall size of the case. Your imagination is the only limitation as to what can fit in this section. Along the back and right walls, there are different lengths of nylon sleeving that add a little more organization. But, since they're so thin and minimal, they're also easy to flatten against the wall to make room for larger items. I've found that AirPods cases fit well, larger erasers, pencil sharpeners, and other small items that have clips really do well in these sleeves. They're nice because they keep things semi-organized in the case while you're moving from place to place.

Since the case has an expansion flap that opens up when the case is unzipped, that means it also has a nice compression effect when you zip the case closed. This means you can't stuff the case to the brim and expect it to shut nicely, but it provides a nice level of compression to keep the contents organized even when it gets jostled or shaken around in your bag.

The quality of the materials is fantastic for the price. The stitching is solid and the case is still lightweight and pliable. I can see this holding up for many, many years of use (assuming we can ever leave our homes again).

At $26, the Kokuyo NeoCritz Worxus case is a great price for such a versatile case. While it's not the best option for carrying nicer pens, it's a fantastic catch-all pouch that provides just enough organizing when you need it, but also disappears when you don't.

If you're not a fan of the black version shown here, you can also choose from Navy and Brown.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Kokuyo ME Notebook: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

The Kokuyo ME Notebook is an A5-sized (210 x 148 mm), seventy-page ruled notebook. The cover is made of shiny cardstock with a geometrical pattern and copper/gold tape on the spine.

It is perfect bound, which means that the book block of single pages (rather than sewn signatures) is glued into the casing. With some pressure, you can get the notebook to lie flat.

I couldn't find any information about the kind of paper used in this notebook or its weight. It feels thicker than Tomoe River Paper. It is off-white with 6mm ruled lines in grey. The top of each page is labeled with "Title," and the bottom has a place for the date.

The paper is smooth to the touch, but when I wrote my long writing sample, I noticed a tiny bit of tooth. I wasn't bothered by this at all. In fact, I liked the fact that there was some resistance under my nib.

I tested the paper with ten different fountain pens and inks. Although it handled fine and medium nibs well, there was a tiny bit of bleed through with wetter inks and show through is quite visible.

Swabs cause the paper to buckle. The ink looks good and you can see varying shades and pooling. The paper brings out a little sheen in the inks and some bleed through occurred.

I also tested various pens and pencils. The Sharpie Ultra Fine Point bled through and show through was visible for most of the pens.

The Kokuyo Notebook is lightweight and can get bent with normal use. The binding tape pulls away easily, though the glued spine seems fairly stable.

The paper in the Kokuyo notebook is pleasant to write on, but it does exhibit both bleed through and show through with some inks and nibs. I'm not impressed with the notebook's construction. If it is thrown in a bag with other books, it will get beat up pretty quickly.

This notebook is available at Vanness Pens for $6.75.

(Vanness Pens provided the Kokuyo Notebook free of charge to Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!