Customer Reviews

Awesome pencil! It is basically a combination of the original Kuru Toga and the alpha gel. The pencil saves lead, prevents lead breakage, and is comfortable!

Anyways, here\'s a real review. I bought this pencil from somewhere in Japan and I\'ve been waiting to see these on Jetpens for sometime. The grip felt like a slightly squishier version of the Dr. Grip. This is a very nice pencil for writing, since the original Kuru Toga doesn\'t have much of a grip. You can take off the plastic outside and decorate the inside of the barrel much like a Dr. Grip. However, the tip isn\'t retractable and you can pull on it too...but that\'s not much of a problem for me. The plastic barrel feels kind of cheap and easy to scratch. Overall, I love this pencil. If you\'re thinking about getting it, stop thinking and get it.

Very beautiful and easy to write with. I have this Turquoise Blue one and it now becomes my favorite mechanical pencil. The plastic clear surrounding of the upper body makes it shining~~The grip is soft so that my finger will not ache after a long time of writing. It's also well balanced.

This pencil feels soft in my hand. My first thought was that the color was a little darker than it looked in the pictures, but it's still very shiny and attractive. I noticed after a day that the grip was starting to turn yellow, so I wrapped it in plastic wrap as extra precaution. The rotating mechanism requires the tip of the pencil to go in a bit when you write, but that's not a problem.
I find that this pencil is a little hard to get used to. I already rotate my pencils incrementally when writing, so using a Kuru Toga that rotates lead internally is redundant and actually throws me off, especially because I like rotating my pencils in the opposite direction. >:[ I wasn't even aware of the habit.

Amazing balance, feels great to hold in the hand, writes smoothly, and looks attractive. The grip is just so squishy, I love it.

Its a beautiful and easy to use pencil that also helps minimize hand fatigue. Its in my top picks for pencils to use over long periods of time, but I would like to see a slim version with the same core rotation mechanism.

love this pencil!!! finally got a pencil that i can have for a looong time without wanting any other kinds. Its smooth, and as the description sais, the rotating mechanisn allows you to always have a dark mark. I don't like lending out this pencil to anyone because when I do, I look like I'm desperate for it back... makes people uncomfortable, LOL.

My absolute favorite pencil. Combining the brilliant Kuru Toga mechanism with the luxurious comfort of the α-gel grip, this pencil is really the end all, cure all. I don't think I need to say more about why this pencil is so amazing.

Unfortunately, the grip is not as soft as the other α-gels. I still find it a bit more squishy than Dr. Grips, but less than the α-gel Slims.

The only problem I have ever had is when I "death grip" the pencil, my hand (which is bigger than the grip) tends to turn the upper half, so the clip is pressing into my hand, spinning around, and pressing into it again. Highly annoying mid-exam/essay. It might be better if instead of a clip, there was a little "wing" like in the Dr. Grips from Asia. But when I'm not choking my pencil, this is perfect. For times when I'm furiously writing and intensely gripping my pencil, I switch to the regular Kuru Toga pencil.

splatt: I haven't tried the high-grade, but I have the original one. I don't know if you can compare the two (since one has a grip, thicker and the other is thinner). I like them in their own, special ways. For example, the original KT is like an upgrade of a regular US pencil you'd find in Office Depot. The A-Gel KT is one of those things you can only get from Japan, plus it's two good things combined.

ALPHA GEL KURU TOGA IS ON JETPENS!!!! ALPHA GEL KURU TOGA IS ON JETPENS!!!! ALPHA GEL KURU TOGA IS ON JETPENS!!!! ALPHA GEL KURU TOGA IS ON JETPENS!!!!

Sorry, I misinterpreted the question... but the original KT is a pretty good pencil. Plastic feels kind of cheap for something of its price, but nothing that brings down the overall feel of the pencil. It's one of my top pencils in my pencil case.

hrm pika,

have you tried high grade or the original kuru toga?
if yes could you tell me how they are overall?

thanx

@gold.silvergold: Overall this pencil's really good. Well I like it. And about the plastic thing, there isn't a plastic slip for it, nor do I think the plastic slip for the Dr. Grip will fit. What I did for my Dr. Grip was put a sticker on the barrel that was it, haha.

Can you insert a plastic design as in the dr grip?

Hey you, pikapika
How is the pencil overall?

Simply outstanding. The soft grip and sharpening feature aids in neat writing. The gel grip on the pencil is famous for protecting an egg from breaking when dropped on concrete, thus the grip is extremely soft and comfortable when compared to other grips. There are only two cons for this pencil: One is that the grip is slightly firmer than the original alpha-gel; the second is that the sharpening feature doesn't work if you write in cursive. Overall, this pencil is wonderful. I highly recommend this product for both long periods of writing, and short note taking.

I AM IN LOVE.

I am obsessed with writing instruments & once I find a great product, I'm loyal for life. When my fiance told me about this pencil, I couldn't believe my ears. I had to order it immediately. (Note: Shipping here at JetPens is absolutely terrific!) When I write, I write in all capitalized letters so this involves me picking up the pencil for each letter. This works wonderful with my writing style. If you prefer to write in cursive, this product may not work as well for you. You literally need to lift the pencil off of the paper in order for the lead to rotate.

I love this pencil so awesome truly amazing :) worth the money

this pencil is good and bad. the good part is that the grip is squishy and your writing comes out neat. the bad part is that the led always gets stuck and u cant get it out.

I love both the kuru toga and alpha gel lines that Uniball has out, so I thought I would try this combination of the two.

THE GRIP-
I like the grip. Defiantly not as squishy as the regular alpha gels (like the Uni-ball Alpha Gel HD Shaka Shaker Pencil), but I prefer this one because it is not s squishy as to make you have an unstable grip, but is still more comfortable than a standard kuru toga.

THE MECHANISM-
So far has been working just fine. I write in cursive, so this may not be as effective as writing in print, but I still like it. One of my 2 kuru togas got blocked up and I wasn't able to clear it so I had to throw it away. Will update on the lasting power later.

OVERALL-
I like the product. Only thing I could suggest would be having metal instead of a coating on plastic on the shiny section in the middle since that scratches easily. Oh, and also having a price cut. This is kinda expensive.

I have had this pencil for about 3 weeks now and here's my two cents. It is an awesome pencil, its intuitive, comfortable and very light. The Kuru Toga technology is pretty helpful when taking notes etc, however, the technology requires for you to lift your pencil. This means that when drawing lines etc, the pencil doesn't spin the lead.

And to add, the gel is similar to the Alpha Gel HD series, not as squishy as the originals.

However, my biggest complaint is that it STOPPED working for me after 3 weeks. By three weeks I finished the lead that came with the pencil and when I loaded the new lead 0.5 the pencil stopped working. I've been trying different solutions but I've reached a dead end and a useless pencil.

Basically the pencil doesnt push the lead out, it just moves freely through the pencil. If anyone knows a fix for this please let me know...

I am so happy with this pencil so far. The grip is nice and squishy, but not annoying to hold or too bulky. The pencil itself is nice and thick, which is a nice change from the original Kuru Toga (which is also great). I am definitely considering buying at least one more of these in another color. Love it!

I don't usually like pencils this thick, but the Kurutoga is fantastically proportioned. As a chronic pencil-spinner I wasn't sure if this pencil was going to help or hinder my writing but I definitely approve. Smooth writing action, effective if small eraser, and all-around good looks. Worth the price.

The grip is not as squishy as your typical Alpha Gel but overall still has a great feel to it.