review: bungubox 4b

Let's take a look at another Bungubox ink!

Bungubox is a Japanese stationery retailer. Sailor makes inks for them. For the longest time, you could only purchase their inks through a courier service, but places in the U.S. have started carrying them. Bungubox inks come in the flat, circular bottles that Sailor inks used to come in.

Bungubox 4B—the "4B" stands for Bungubox Blue Black—is a blue black!

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Bungubox 4B isn't waterproof, but it does stand up pretty well to water. It does smear under the drops of water, but it reads fairly legibly to me.

In a Japanese medium nib, the ink dries pretty quickly. It was done before the 30 second mark.

On this Kokuyo Campus MIO paper, it has nice shading and even a little bit of sheen.

I love the shading and sheen this ink has on Tomoe River paper! It has a nice red rim, and it shades from a navy blue to a deep blue black.

Here's 4B next to some other blue black-ish inks that I have. TAG Kyo no Oto Aonibi and Lennon Tool Bar Tiegan are both lighter. Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris is actually pretty close, though it is much deeper. Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo is a little bit lighter and not as gray. Sailor Jentle Yamadori is a bit more green.

I have this ink my Pelikan M205 Aquamarine with a broad nib, and the combination is really wonderful. This pen guzzles ink, and 4B keeps up very well. It's a great, smooth-writing combination. I loved reaching for the Pelikan (not that I would ever dislike that pen!).

I really like Bungubox 4B. It's a very simple ink, but it has some nice characteristics. I hope Bungubox inks get carried at more retailers in the U.S.!

Where to buy

I purchased this sample from Pen Chalet.

• Pen Chalet: bottle / sample