MD Midori by Design Phill Japan is one of the most popular paper notebooks brands for good reasons: their simplistic but thoughtful approach to notebooks and their idea of making the most pleasant experience for writing and drawing with any types of pen. You guys know I have a thing with their cotton notebooks, but their latest product to come out this year -  the MD fountain pen - left me with a rather confusing impression.

The fountain pen in question comes in a clear plastic box with paper lining inside, and it's a plus that we could check out how the pen looks before even opening the box.

The paper lining also has an international cartridge attached beneath so you could get it ink up right away. When opened, the back pages reveals the user manual with beautifully printed doodles and instructions, but not that we read them anyway...

When capped, the instrument has a bit of weight to it, but most of that comes from the cap. It's machined steel and sturdy enough to secure the section and protect the small steel nib inside. The brushed finishing also plays in the minimalistic design Midori is going for.

However, the moment I picked up the pen and uncapped it, a lot of questions started to come up in my head. Both the section and barrel were injection moulded resin, and there is nothing wrong with that, but somehow there is this tingling feeling of "crispy-ness" that comes from handling the pen. The edges and finishing were well done, yet somehow the overall weight and feel is completely off in my head...

The section is made from a misty plastic that has a few grooves along the edges for your fingers to grip, it shows the ink color inside the pen pretty well, other than it being too small for some people, it wouldn't affect the writing experience. 

The barrel is also made from a similar plastic, but this one has a milky ivory color to it. There isn't any moulding seams on the side of the barrel, but the matte imprint MD PAPER PRODUCTS along the barrel killed the pen for me... I hate to be a bit stereotypical here but that made the pen look like those "corporate gift" fountain pens you would get as souvenirs every once in a while, it doesn't affect the writing experience but yeah...it was the design choice that broke the character of a "minimalist" fountain pen for me.

Last but not least, the saving grace for the MD fountain pen is the nib: it writes really well out of the box and without any issues, yet the nib size indicator M is pretty deceiving - I can’t really tell if this is a medium or an extra fine...

Overall, without considering the aesthetics and design choices, the MD fountain pen is a good writer and for those who like the brand, it's a pretty good pen to get. However for the listed price of $30, I can't help but feeling like there are other great and better choices out there that would fit the minimal vibe of MD notebooks better, such as the unbranded version of the Preppy sold by Muji, or even this aluminium fountain pen right here. If you have one of these MD fountain pens, please let me know your experience - and as always, thank you for reading and I'll catch you in the next one.