(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
One of the greatest things you can ever hope to do when it comes to buying new inks is to have the opportunity to try the inks before you make your choice. Like I wrote about with my Akkerman purchase at the 2016 Atlanta Pen Show, Vanness pens provided a testing station that had a couple dozen inked pens that you could try at any time. I think I tested out every single ink they made available, but I only picked two inks to come home with me. Obviously, one of those was the Akkerman Passage Blauw. The other ink was a tad uncharacteristic for me: Bungubox Sunset of Omaezaki. It was uncharacteristic because this is a bright orange ink...something that I've never ventured into when it comes to ink colors. Short story: I'm glad I took the leap.
Omaezaki is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, which is at the very tip of the Omaezaki Peninsula. Being a surf town, the sunset orange seems fitting against the other blue ink that uses the same namesake. The flag of Omaezaki also features a similar orange color as the backdrop.
Now, back to the ink. As far as I understand, the Sunset of Omaezaki ink is a limited edition for this year. It really caught my attention at the testing table because it had a subtle shading effect instead of a basic highlighter-orange color. It's bright and pops off the page, but it also has character.
Being a Bungubox ink, I had no concerns about it being a poor performer in my pens, and I was correct to assume. This is a fabulous ink. The writing performance is on par with other Bungubox and Sailor inks, which is to say it's an exceptional ink. I haven't noticed any hard or skippy starts, no problems when writing, and easy clean up.
When writing with this ink, the nib is lubricated to provide a smooth writing experience. The ink isn't overly wet, but does a nice job of keeping a good level of flow in the different pens I've tried it with. My favorite characteristic of the ink is the shading. It's not a dramatic level of shading like some inks, but it's enough to catch my eye and make me smile. In the areas where ink pools up slightly, the ink takes on a darker, red-orange hue that I love. The normal color of the ink is a brighter orange tone that you can't miss.
The dry time on this ink is another huge plus. In my tests, the ink was consistently dry and resisting smudges by 10-15 seconds. That's impressive.
Another thing to note about this ink is that it does produce a smell when you're writing. It reminds me of certain art supplies or paints — nothing offensive, but just something that you notice. Most fountain pen inks are fairly odorless unless you try really hard to notice a scent. This one hits your nose while you're writing in a proper position where the pen is a good 2+ feet from your nose. It's not an unpleasant smell, but it's worth mentioning. I happen to like the smell.
The bottle is exactly like other Bungubox and Sailor ink bottles. I love the shape of these bottles more than any other (yes, even the Akkerman bottles) due to the sleek design. These bottles feature an ink well system that allows you to ink up your pens even if the ink level in the bottle is low. It's a nice feature that I wish all ink bottles included.
I'm brand new to the world of orange inks, but I think I might be in the market to try some more. I've always heard great things about Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki, so that might be my next experiment. Either way, this Bungubox ink is a huge win for me. I'm loving this ink and find myself using it pretty heavily during the day, even though it's not a standard "business" or "work" color. It's just too pretty and exciting to let it sit all day.
Also, if you happen to own any Karas Kustoms pens with the orange anodized finish, it matches this ink perfectly.
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