A couple of days ago I ordered new manga paraphernalia from j-stuff.de.

It’s not that I didn’t already had a lot of equipment, but now I have the complete set of inks from Deleter XD !!

I already had number 2,3,4 and 6, as well as the white ink and the Kaimei Manga Ink, but I thought i should also try out 1 and 5.

Here’s what the site has to say about each one of them:

1) Basic-Ink, great for drawing lines and big areas.

2) Non-Erasable.

3) Water-proof, matt-finished.

4) Water-Proof and very dark.

5) Watery Ink, with a faint, beautiful glossiness.

6) Watery ink, clear, fast drying.

Kamei Manga-Ink: Spreadable ink! Dries quickly! Semi-permanent finish! Suited for filling and striking.

I decided to test them extensively to find out which suits me the best. Interestingly enough, I found that the descriptions didn’t fit some of the inks. Of course it’s hard to tell whether it were just my inks that were different from the norm or if it were the descriptions that were wrong. That’s why – if you happen to have some of these inks, I’d welcome your comments.

Let me first summarize my results in this image:

As you can see, I have tested for glossiness, water-resistance and (alcohol-based) marker resistance. Actually, I also tested for erasability (number 2 is supposed to be eraser-proof), but it turned out that all of them were completely eraser-proof.

Ink number 1 is indeed a very easy to work with kind of ink. It flows well, is very dark and has a nice gloss. It’s not water-proof, but you can probably color it with markers – at least I couldn’t get it to smudge with a marker no matter how hard I tried. But I’d suggest to test it for yourself before relying on ME…!

No. 2 is practically identical to No.1 but it has no gloss.

The third ink feels just the same as the second ink, but it’s water-proof! However, the marker smudged it very slightly, which really surprised me. I would suggest to use markers carefully with this ink.

Number 4 is a real weirdo. I’m not sure if its just my ink, but it was terribly watery. Unless you use a LOT of it, it’ll look really faint. However, because of its dilution it flows very easily and is completely water- and marker-proof.

Ink number 5 has a really bitter smell which reminds me of a sterilizing liquid or something like that… Oh well, other than that it’s almost identical to ink number 1, but it’s gloss is a little bit weaker and it’s not quite as dark.

Ink number 6 stands out quite a bit as well. Contrary to number 4, it’s extremely dense. So dense in fact, that I couldn’t use it with a G-Pen! It just didn’t flow! So I was forced to use a brush… Other than its density, it’s almost the same as number one, just as dark and glossy.

Lastly there is the Kaimei Manga Ink. Frankly, it feels and looks just the same as the third Deleter ink. Meaning: it’s dark, matt, as well as water- and markerproof. The description also mentioned that it dries quickly, which is true. But: all these inks dry pretty quick. I didn’t notice much of a difference with any of them. That’s one thing that definitely makes these manga inks much more suitable for drawing comics than regular slow-drying ink.

As you see, the inks number 4 and 6 were the only ones to stand out in a somewhat negative way. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend them for drawing manga.

The others are almost equally good. I used no. 2 for a very long time but then changed to number 3 because of its water-resistance – even if you don’t plan on coloring, you never can be safe enough XD .

Oh, and perhaps I should say a couple of words about the white ink. It’s awesome – ’nuff said.

No, really, white ink is extremely usefull, not just for correcting mistakes, but also for all kinds of effects. You’ll constantly be able to think of new ways to create textures and other stuff if you have it.

Also, did you notice the MONO-eraser in the first photo? Yeah, I ordered it from J-stuff, as well. Who would have thought that an eraser could make a difference?! But hell, it’s the best eraser I ever had! It’s super soft, doesn’t leave much residue and erases perfectly. I will never use another eraser!!

But o well, it’s time to go to bed… Hope you learned something. Till next time.