For its price, this is a great pen. I love the control I have with the tip and, though it has worn down a bit for me, I am pretty hard on it and it's kept up pretty well. Ink dries quickly, which is great for me because I go over and around my work a lot. I carry it every day! while I do like this pen a lot, I will probably try to find a pen with a felt tip that is a bit more sturdy, and hopefully refillable. I don't like disposables )':

Note on "disposable" pens: An experiment I did with a pilot brush pen: if you don't care as much about the exact ink color or particular properties of the ink you're using, try this. Boil water and dip the body of the pen in the water, tip facing up. Let it sit for a few seconds to heat the pen. Then submerge the tip into ink (I recommend separating the ink from the bottle so you don't mix inks!). As the body of the pen cools, it draws the ink into the body of the pen through the tip. It doesn't completely refill it, but it does work. I used it with a purple and had minimal color change, but this trick probably will not work if you plan on using it for multiple ink colors. Still a cool discovery, though.

I find the ink thin (grey), and the stroke scratchy and prone to gap during quick lines. I ordered two different Kuretake brush pens (this and the extra fine) this order and both made similar strokes

Not likely to try this pen or the brand again as a result.

This tip is softer than the xtra-fine, and shows good variation for small written Chinese calligraphy. It's also perfect for putting pine needles on pine trees with my ink paintings. Wide enough to show the right kinds of variation for the needles, but thin enough to keep every needle sharp. I can watercolor right over it and there's no smearing or bleed thru. It's perfect for what I'd hoped to use it for.

I suspect this will also be quite good for the thicker outline lines for manga-style drawing as well.

I use this to outline my sketches and it really makes them pop! It is very easy to use and a smooth tool to use when outlining things you've drawn or sketched. I don't use it for writing text like it was intended, but it is one of the best outliners I have found for the price.

The perfect Kuretake for me, and I've tried them all.