Iroshizuku - Hotaru-bi
Pilot Iroshizuku - Hotaru-bi - Ink drop
Wow! What a pleasant surprise! Released in the spring of 2022 as one of three additions to Pilot’s Iroshizuku series, this is Hotaru-bi or firefly light. When swatching, I really expected this to be something of a highlighter yellow. However, while it might wear a yellow uniform, in writing this ink is definitely on team green!
Pilot Iroshizuku - Hotaru-bi - Color Range
This is an interesting, quite delicious ink. It’s not as similar to Chiku-rin, one of the three discontinued Iroshizuku inks, as I expected, but I like it. The splatter really tells the story here. What was a bold, neon yellow, becomes almost a light, neon olive in writing. It reminds me of the green of some under-ripe bananas. There is a ton of yellow giving it a light, bright smile, and this comes across more strongly in the lights of shaded areas. However, the yellow is subtle and restrained, but ever-present, and it lies just under the greener shell and really adds mystery. It’s far more usable than I anticipated, too. It’s a very legible color, and on coated papers a fairly strong edging keeps it crisp and well-framed.
Pilot Iroshizuku - Hotaru-bi - Rich and clean
In writing, Hotaru-bi has all of the great characteristics of an Iroshizuku ink. It’s wet, flows comfortably, and is consistent and reliable. There was a bit of feather on standard office copy, and some bleed-through, as well, but on friendlier papers it performed very nicely. The writing on the ink splatter gives a taste of how it looks on Rhodia. You’ll enjoy this one!
Pilot Iroshizuku - Hotaru-bi - Sample on Rhodia
The comparison image shows some similars, but nothing matched perfectly. There were some others that I expected to be close (Chiku-rin immediately came to mind), but they weren’t very close at all. So much surprise with Hotaru-bi! I think the potential with this one is almost limitless, and highly recommend this fun ink!
Pilot Iroshizuku - Hotaru-bi - Ink Swatch Card
Pilot Iroshizuku - Hotaru-bi - Ink Swatch Comparisons