Maruman Mnemosyne Special Memo Notepad - B5 (6.9" X 9.8") - 7 mm Rule + Divisions - 30 Lines X 80 Sheets

This notepad brings out conflicting emotions in me.

Pros: Excellent smooth paper quality (some of the best I've ever dealt with). Page layout is thoughtful. Binding and cover are sturdy. Writing is smooth with Hi-tec-c and Signo.

Personal Cons: Expensive for only 80 sheets (double sided at least). I find myself making excuses not to write in it in fear that my words are not worthy. This isn't scrap paper. I wish they were less expensive (would have been 5/5 if they were the individual notepad price of the 5 packs).

TL;DR - Epic quality meets it's price tag

This notebook is my first experience with Mnemosyne, and I must say that this is THE BEST writing experience I've had in my entire life, which is over 50 years and counting! I absolutely love the smoothness and thickness of the paper. I use Namiki Decimo and several of the older Namiki fountain pens from the 60's and 70's era of Vanishing Point pens - all with fine nibs because that's my preference. I don't own any bold tips on any writing instrument, so I cannot speak to the paper's performance when a lot of ink flows onto the paper with each pen stroke. However, I've also taken copious notes by hand using a 0.5 and 0.7 mm ballpoint, liquid ink, gel ink, and roller ball ink pens; and I've never experienced anything close to bleed-through, skipping, or smearing yet. Of course, I believe I could definitely cause smearing to happen if I tried, but I doubt I'll ever feel compelled to do so. I should say that I'm right handed, so lefties may be more likely to have problems with smearing, depending on whether they 'hook' over the writing surface or not. This notebook is very classy and professional in appearance, and many people ask me about it and where to buy. When not on special discount pricing, an individual B5 notebook is extremely pricey, in my opinion. I'll like get in trouble, but I've found a much, much better price elsewhere. I will continue buying this notebook because it's the perfect size and quality that makes handwriting such a pleasure for me.

I purchased this notebook to serve as my main notebook for work. It is very professional looking and I really like the layout of the pages. The paper is excellent (I disagree with the comments made in previous reviews). I have tried various writing instruments (ballpoint, mechanical pencil, gel ink and fountain pen) and have had no problems. It is very nice paper to write on. For me, the size is perfect. It reminds me of the Mead Cambridge notebook but with much better paper. I will be purchasing this one again.

I’m not certain about statements in the other reviews, and particularly those about the paper being too smooth. The paper has been excellent, though thick gel pens and certain fountain pen ink (Waterman and Private Reserve) try to creep through from one side to the other if applied with a bold tip. However, this is true for every other paper I’ve tried on this site with the sole exception of Kokuyo Cyo-Bo, which I consider the 5-star standard. I’m giving this notebook 5 stars anyway, however, because I think it’s currently rated on the low side. It’s also worth mentioning these notebooks are extremely professional looking. The covers are nice, and all the corners are rounded.

I have loved every Mnemosyne notebook I've tried so far. This is one of my least favorite (my favorite being the 8x11-or-so 5mm gridded one), but that's not saying much. The paper is smooth, which makes it an absolute delight to write with very fine tipped pens. My only problem with it is that I wish the lines were spaced closer together (for those of us with small handwriting, this is important because it feels like we waste so much vertical space with widely-spaced lines!)

Other than that, I like that there are three "sections" on each page - most of the lines are made of tiny dots, but there are three solid lines (one at the top, one 1/3 way down, one 2/3 way down) that separate the page into sections. They aren't exceptionally obvious, so if you want to use it as one continuous page, it wouldn't look weird or anything, but if you do choose to separate the page into thirds this makes it very convenient. I use this notebook for taking notes in class - since usually about 6-10 different topics are covered per class, I use 2-4 sheets each time and take advantage of the separations.