Sailor - Manyo - Nekoyanagi

Sailor - Manyo - Nekoyanagi - Ink drop

One of my favorites! Nekoyanagi, is part of Sailor’s Manyo series. Manyo inks are named after flowers mentioned in the Manyoshu, an anthology of over 4700 Classical Japanese poems collected from the 4th to 7th centuries. Nekoyanagi is named for the Rose-Gold Pussy Willow (or Cat Willow), a variety native to Korea, Japan, and China.

Sailor - Manyo - Nekoyanagi - Color Variation

This is a gorgeous, soft, muted, pastel violet. It’s a multi-colored shading ink, with prominent pink, aqua blue, and aqua green undertones that swirl amidst a foundation of light and dark violets. The overall effect is stunning! As with many unsaturated inks, this is a wet, almost watery ink with very low viscosity. This makes it a very average ink, in terms of drying time, despite its wetness. It’s a prodigious shading ink. As it dries, the beautiful undertones blossom to the surface and redefine the ink before your eyes. Coated papers highlight these features best and allow the ink to parade all of its beauty.

Sailor - Manyo - Nekoyanagi - Shading

In my testing, shading, coloration, stroke profile and definition were highest on Rhodia and Mnemosyne papers. On Apica, there was no feathering, and coloration was fairly high, but shading was less pronounced. Performance on cheap office copy paper was surprisingly respectable. Shading and coloration were lower, but still visible. Strokes lacked the clarity and crispness of those seen on the other papers, but feathering was not a problem.

The Manyo series continues to impress me. Sailor makes some of the best unsaturated, multi-colored, shading inks, and this is a true beauty. If you’re already a fan of soft, muted inks, then you’ll love this one. If not, I still recommend giving it a try. Nekoyanagi is a beautiful violet that’s full of surprises, and it just might change your mind!