Get To the Point: The Uni Kuru Toga 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil

First things first: JetPens provided the Kuru Toga pencil for this review, for which I thank them. This is a lovely little pencil. And it does a special little trick (ooooo, foreshadowing).

Second things second: Yes, I DID dress to match my new pencil. Is there something wrong with that? (Don’t answer.)

My handwritten review:

While I don’t find myself reaching for a pencil as much as I reach for a pen, there are times when only a pencil will do. Like for this:

Planner Pad entries. Plans change. Neatness counts, so I erase.

And this:

I’m not very good at these. I erase. A lot.

And also this:

My checkbook. I make mistakes. The bank makes mistakes. We all make mistakes.

Hey, look…the Kuru Toga comes with an eraser:

This is probably the weakest part of the pencil…its tiny eraser. Put it’ll do in a pinch.

The obvious problem with pencils is that the points become dull and the lines inconsistent and “blurry.” Obviously, this is more of an issue with wood-case pencils than with mechanical pencils, but even with mechanical pencils, the issue is there, just to a lesser degree.

While I love the look, feel, and darkeness of the Palomino Blackwing pencil, the fact that I want to jump up every two seconds to sharpen it, takes some of the fun out of the writing experience. The lead develops a flat side as I write, the line becomes broader, and I have to keep rolling the pencil around in my grip to find the “pointier” part of the lead. Otherwise, it just gets more and more blunt until I HAVE TO go sharpen it.

Even with a mechanical pencil, the lead flattens on one side and I’m constantly doing that “rolling the pencil in my grip” thing to find a fresher point.

With the Uni Kuru Toga, all you have to do is write. Everytime you lift the pencil from the paper, the inner mechanism rotates the lead ever so slightly so that a flat side cannot/does not develop. THE LINE STAYS CRISP.

Here it is explained in plain English Japanese:

And a closer look at the inner workings:

Where the magic happens

So, with the Kuru Toga, there is no more jumping up to sharpen pencils, no more broad/blurry lines, and no more pencil wrangling shenanigans.

You can just write. And isn’t that the point?!

Pun intended.