Uni-Ball Kuru Toga 0.5mm Pencil Review

I picked up a Kuru Toga at Staples, having heard a lot about how cool it was. The cool feature is this: The Kuru Toga (‘kuru’ coming from the idea of something turning around and around, expressed in Japanese) will automatically rotate its mechanical pencil lead as you write.

And it works—the Kuru Toga pencil gives you the sharp end every time you put down a stroke.

I thought this was a huge benefit, until I wrote with it some more. Here are potential cons:

Some people like to use the flat portion of the graphite to put down broader strokes, shade with the pencil, etc.
Writing with an ever-sharp point starts to feel really scratchy, fast.

So, if you like writing with a pencil that stays sharp, you should get one of these. If you like smoother writing and don’t mind writing with the flat part of your graphite, take a look at another mechanical pencil, like the Ohto Promecha.

You can buy the Kuru Toga at JetPens, my favorite stationery store.