Uni Kurutoga Advance Upgrade Model 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil, Gun Metallic Body (M510301P.43), Black

Just received my Kuru Toga Advance Upgrade 0.5 mm mechanical pencil. TL;DR = What an Excellent Pencil! And the W-speed engine makes a big difference. Prior to owning this, my "go to" pencils were: (1) the Pentel GraphGear 1000 0.5mm (limited edition black), (2) the Pentel GraphGear 1000 0.7 mm, and (3) a standard Uni Kuru Toga 0.7mm (black barrel). My standard Uni Kuru Toga *works*, but is a distant 3rd place because of two issues. First, the lead sleeve doesn't retract, leaving it to poke holes in my pockets, digging into me if I move wrongly, and/or accidentally getting broken off on a hard surface. Second, while the Kuru Toga engine *works* (and is awesome), it was designed for writing Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana. Those use MUCH shorter strokes than the Western (Latin) alphabet, so the lead is turned more gradually than I would like. Enter the Kuru Toga Advance Upgrade. PROS It has the new W-speed engine. (I assume the "W" stands for "Western Scripts.") This rotates the lead roughly TWICE as fast as the standard Kuru Toga engine so that it stays sharper when writing in English. I can confirm this works, and works well. The lead sleeve is retractable. I could wish that it had the niftier mechanism found in the Pentel GraphGear 1000, but it certainly works well enough that I can carry it in a pocket without breaking it or having it stab me. The lead sleeve "rides" up with the lead as you write. This little trick reduces the number of times you have to click to feed the lead, and is a welcome feature. (If you want a true auto-feeding pencil, Uni makes the Kuru Toga "Dive" which advances the lead every time you lift it from the page. It even has a feed speed adjustment!) The color is vivid. Mine is a deep vibrant red and the metal and plastic parts all match without color variation. It is a beautiful, professional looking writing instrument. CONS The Kuru Toga Advance Upgrade is both shorter and lighter than my GraphGear 1000. This may be a "PRO" to you if you prefer a less-weighty pencil, but I would spend an extra few dollars in a heartbeat if they made a heavier, all-metal version. The sleeve requires pressing on a hard surface to make it retract. This is just a MINOR nit! But I prefer how the GraphGear auto-retracts when I squeeze the top of the pocket clip. Coolness Factor? My standard Kuru Toga has the window that shows the engine. When I pull this out in front of any fellow pen/pencil afficionado, they ALWAYS immediately ask about it! Of course, my "Advance Upgrade" pencil looks a WHOLE lot more professional... but I'd certainly buy a version that had the clear window around the engine. Better yet? Sell a version that has swappable lower barrels -- you could then "dress it up" for professional meetings, or "geek it up" when you want the coolness factor. (Are you listening, Uni?) .

So, to give some context, I got this for writing, and I got it as a curiosity since I absolutely love the original Kurutoga. I discovered the Kurutogas when I was still in Japan a while back. Due to the way Japanese is written, I was looking for the thinnest possible pencil that was still useable comfortably. 0.3mm pencils are not the best choice since the lead is so thin that it has a bad tendency to break, especially if you like using soft lead. 0.5mm became my go to due to that. The Kurutogas let you write with a thinner line than normal 0.5mm pencils, so it was a great solution to get what I was looking for, a nice easy to use pencil that gives you an extra thin line. I recently fell in love with dark graphite in pencils, since it gets close to the darkness of a nice pen, but it's immensely smooth to write with in most situations. The normal Kurutogas do spin the lead, but 2B is basically the limit for how soft you can go and still get a thinner than normal line when writing normally. I wanted to use 4B lead but it wears down too quickly for the normal Kurutoga engines to keep sharp. When I saw the Kurutoga Advance and I knew that would be the answer. I actually really love this pencil, and I don't think I'll ever actively use any other pencil at this point for writing. The build quality is excellent, it is decently weighty, and it's comfortable to use since there is some minor texturing for grip and it's a little thicker than most other pencils. The advanced engine makes it so using 4B lead is now an option for me. You can actually keep a thinner than normal line at almost all times due to the fact that the advanced engine turns twice as fast. It also has the nice feature of a retractable tip as well, so you are less likely to break it when storing it. Basically, if you are looking for a nice mechanical pencil for writing, and you want to use softer lead while being able to have the thinnest lines possible, this is the choice in 0.5mm.

The weight of the pencil feels like medium weight, i've been writing with this pencil for almost a year and it's amazing. I accidentally forgot the pencil in the washer because i had it on my pocket and it came out not working but whenever it dries it started working again surprisingly! The eraser isn't that good as it runs out pretty quickly. The feeling of the pencil is pretty smooth and the size is a little bigger than a pencil. I recommend this pencil for sketching and drawing instead of writing.

This mechanical pencil really impressed me. The design is not only stylish but also delivers exactly what it promises—comfortable to hold, smooth to use, and with a mechanism that feels precise and reliable. Writing with it feels very different from regular pencils; it gives a sense of quality and control. Definitely worth it if you’re looking for functionality combined with great design.

Where have I been? This pencil was an amazing discovery! Well built, amazing writing instrument for a reasonable price. Add to that it is nice looking!

Another great mechanical pencil. I gave this one to my son in 6th grade and he loves it. Smooth writing, comfortable grip, and the lead stays sharp thanks to the Kurutoga mechanism. Really solid pencil for school or everyday use.

TL: DR A freaking great high-quality mechanical pencil with many quality of life features that set it apart from everyone else. It has very minor drawbacks with the eraser. Purchase of separate eraser recommended. I have used this for a few months now, and I have to say that this is hands down! The best mechanical pencil I have ever used. I'm going to be honest with you all I've tried using other mechanical pencils after buying this to compare, and nothing besides this feels right anymore. The look fits any environment from professionalism to studying with friends. The weight and is perfect, and the material is top quality. Because of its ingenious lead shield, my lead has never been broken or wasted. The engine mechanism that sharpens the pencil lead as you write has actually improved my handwriting. Kuru toga is absolutely a quality brand that confidently boasts their craftsmanship in their work and is worth every well-spent cent. Now I know I have said nothing but positive things, but there is one drawback. Unfortunately, the high-quality eraser is super tiny and is hard to replace if you get to that point. The next flaw is also eraser-related, so the only way to refill the lead is from the top... yeah, that means no bottom-feeding the pencil lead, or you could damage the mechanism according to the box. The workaround I figured out is relatively easy all you need is to remove the current eraser and just leave the cap on then buy a separate eraser. Now, this other potential "issue" is dependant on your preference; the pencil lead size is 0.5mm, which is not bad, but I know others like 0.7mm pencil lead. Other than that, I have had no further problems with it. If you are looking for something that is high quality from top to bottom and feels great to write with for hours on end stop here and make this the final mechanical pencil you will ever buy.

This pencil got ,e using pencils again. Very good writing experience. The Kurutoga technology works flawlessly. The metal body is very ergonomic. Good price for such a high quality mechanical pencil. Color is great and I think it will last me a long time.