PILOTKakuno Fountain Pen of Biginners, Fine Nib, Glay Body (FKA-1SR-GYF), Gray

Newly purchased. Wrote for several hours last night and found this pen to be easy on my hand and a smooth writer. There is also a charm to this pen,, a toy that is also a tool, looking like a child while doing an adult function. It is light, but in a floating way. And what a low price for such a quality fountain pen. (I hope all of you are enjoying your writing.)

Another great fountain pen from Pilot! I'm a big fan of their Cosmopolitan line, but sometimes I just want a light, economical pen to carry around, and this is the answer. It's a no-frills pen, but accepts standard Pilot cartridges and the nib writes as smoothly as a higher-end model.

I love this pen. Makes writing fun. The size is just right for my hand. The nib writes smooth.

I already have a Pilot Metropolitan with a medium nib, and that works great. Smooth writing, great feel in the hand, and a bargain to boot. I wanted to experiment with a different pen though, and this was both cute and a little cheaper, and already having a spare Pilot converter, I decided to get the Kakuno.When it arrived, I found it was just downright adorable. The packaging is cute and colorful if somewhat cheap. It has a smiling face on the nib! The black and blue coloring is fun and the finish is nice. The provided instructions are all in Japanese but that's to be expected, and they're not really needed to use for the most part outside of some fountain pen common sense.However, it came in a disposable case rather than the plastic shell and case of the Metro. It also only had one disposable ink cartridge compared to the Metro's two refillable converters. For only 2 or 3 dollars less, 'tis a bit disappointing.In the hand, it feels fine; its rather's light due to the plastic and is surprisingly ergonomic due to the hexagonal barrel. It is a hint more scratchy than the Metro, but being a finer nib, that's to be expected. It still wrote smoothly and without issue. No stutters, no leaking, no hiccups.It's a solid no-frills writing and drawing experience, with some nice pluses like the barrel shape, making it less likely to roll off a desk and break the tip. The smile on the nib even makes a good reference point to use to know when your pen tip is aligned properly. Those two features can be pretty notable, especially for an absolute beginner or younger person learning how to write with a fountain pen.However, every time I used it, I just kept comparing it to the Metro. On value alone, the Metro blows it out of the water in terms of feel and accessories, and the Kakuno doesn't really provided much unique outside of a good soft aesthetic and even more beginner friendliness. It's adorable and personally worth it for that, but with only a small cost difference, those qualities really have to matter in order to get the Kakuno in particular.However, everything about this pen feels more oriented towards being a gift from adults to children to learn the love of using fountain pens, and from that perspective, this pen makes perfect sense, and nails that goal well. If that's what you wanna do, the Kakuno can't be a better choice.For what it's worth, it's a solid pen. I don't regret it and I can see myself buying another as a gift to younger folks.

another 5 star review, at least upon opening up and inking within hours of receiving and writing out the alphabet on the back of an envelope, so I guess things could go sour, but I don't expect so: Pilot makes a solid, solid, pen line-up and this pen, aimed at the Japanese school kids learning to write with a proper pen, is just that: a workhorse that can take some abuse but will write as well as pens costing TONS more. Here's why: it's made of plastic, for one thing, so light as a feather. In the right hands, that is perfect (I adore lightning quick pens), but it will never have the heft of an oversized pen made of substantial material. (The latter, however, can be heavy in long writing sessions.) You will also not get a flexy 14k nib, but it is only a nail when you keep your touch light, at which point it remains a FINE point you could write the Declaration of Independence with on a 3x5 card, and only use a drop of ink--for that matter, a wetter ink is best, and the fantastic standard Pilot ink is just that--I recommend you hunt down a converter and try the bottled Japanese stuff among others, but the cartridges offered by Pilot are really second to none. Anyway, yes it might be a stingy dryish pen on crappy paper with the wrong ink I would guess, but with the included ink it puts down a nice wet line that will fatten if you put a little pressure on the nib, and even has a little spring to it that you don't so much have to worry about busting--it's a school pen, right? anyway, at the 11 buck price point, these are a steal, and an absolute best buy for those who want to dip into fountain pens.other thoughts: most of my pens are screw tops, which can unwind at times if carried about. this little guy without a clip of any kind (so not a dress or work shirt pen at all) would slip easily into a pants pocket. I think I will really like the quick pop on/off of this cap, and really the pen writes great unposted. I didn't try posting it and might not do so often for fear of cracking the cap, though it may just click on lightly. nothing would surprise me that the engineers of this pen would not cover. makes me wish I had bought more of the 78g pens when they were cheap. I did not get a fine nib then because I had to write fast and furious and the fines don't always keep up, but it is true that these Japanese fine points with that bit of flex are something special, and you should own at least one version of it (I think this may be the same nib as the 78g without the gold plating and in one other Pilot series as well) if you are into pens and a great starter if you are just interested. It really writes as well as pens double or triple the price, easily, as long as you know what a fine point brings to the table (i.e. don't complain that it's scratchy if it's really just the tiny footprint of the nib, of course it's sharper than a Bold or medium point). It's gonna be hard for me not to start price watching the other colors (chose orange for low price/quick ship and visibility).final word of advice, but before I inked the pen up, I wrote somewhat aggressively on some decent paper to give a little polish to the nib. If you happen to get a rough example, do the same on progressively coarser papers (brown paper bag is final resort) until you rub out any imperfections. A cheapo loupe (little magnifier) is great to see if your tines are aligned on the nib and it does not take too much persuasion to make them even, if you do get a crappy one, but my experience with Pilot has been the same as with Japanese cars from the 80's: high quality, super high performance to price ratio. I covet their higher end models, like the vanishing point. Now that's a pen for a dress shirt!

my favorite pen-- great writing and drawing

This pen is amazing for the price. It's not the nicest looking pen, and the instructions were in Japanese but it writes great.

I just got this pen. As a beginner with fountain pens I really like its flow when writing. I did calligraphy many years ago. This pen is very smooth no grabbing. I would definitely recommend this pen.