Kuretake MC2036V Gansai Tambi 36 Color Set

I have tried all brands of watercolor. This is definitely my favorite. I love the large windows of paint. The colors are beautiful. I love it.

I love the colors they're very pigmented. My only reason for 4 star is that when my set came in 13 of the 36 colors were cracked/severely cracked and two of the colors were chipped to where i had to delicately pair the chips with the correct color. Seeing that they are watercolors im not too worried about it, they will go back together with time.It is a little disheartening though, spending 50$ on a watercolor set and almost 1/2 the colors are cracked or chipped. If this was a gift i'm very sure i wouldn't have even tried to see the quality and would've given the product a much lower rating, seeing that if the colors are this delicate in shipping they would be packaged more carefully than in a thin bubbled package.I would recommend this product regardless of the chipping. The packaging is lovely and the amount of colors and the size of each pan is huge (about 1"x2" in size). The colors are very pigmented, and smooth to work with.Just be wary if you are giving it as a gift since chipping and cracking can occur.Edit: After i finished swatching all the colors, i couldn't give this set a 4 star regardless of the condition. I fell in love again. The white is opaque (from what i have tested, we'll see what happens when i use it in paintings), the black is the most opaque black i've gotten from a pan set, and the iridescent colors are amazing and very smooth and buttery. A must have, if you are buying this for a friend as a gift, and they can't get over a little cracked paint then they'll miss out on a wonderful set of watercolors.Edit [12.5.15]: Nearly a year later and i'm still loving this set. I have decided to post up some paintings I have done recently to show you the quality and opacity these paints can have. I will also post a "rough" translation of the color names, some of which I have no clue/couldn't find a translation that made sense on various translators.Edit [11/1/2016]: I found my translated list sorry for the wait!! Please note this is what I was able to come up with, with my minimal knowledge of basic japanese, if you have a more accurate translation please post!No. 32 : Beni べに・紅 [Crimson]No. 34 : Youbeni ようべに・洋紅 [Carmine]No. 35 : Koubai こうばい・紅梅 [Hongmei? Red Plum]No. 36 : Enji えんじ・臙脂 [Rouge]No. 30 : Akashu あかしゅ・赤朱 [Red Vermilion]No. 31 : Shu しゅ・朱 [Vermilion]No. 33 : Daidai だいだい・橙 [Orange]No. 44: Oudo おうど・黄土 [Ochre]No. 43 : Yamabuki やまぶき・山吹 [Bright Yellow]No. 42 : Touou とうおう・籐黄 [Cambogia/Gamboge?]No. 40 : Ki き・黄 [Yellow]No. 54 : Uguisuroku うぐいすろく・鶯緑 [Green Nightingale?] Looks like Olive GreenNo. 51 : Wakakusu わかくさ・若草 [Little Women?] Looks like a Yellow GreenNo. 53 : Kigusa きぐさ・黄草 [Kikusa/Yellow Grass] Looks like a Bright Olive GreenNo. 52 : Aokusa あおくさ・青草 [Grass]No. 58 : Yomogi よもぎ・蓬 [Wormwood]No. 55 : Rokusho ろくしょう・緑青 [Patina]No. 56 : Nouryoku のうりょく・濃緑 [Dark Green]No. 57 : Gunroku ぐんろく・群緑 [Gun Green?] Looks like a Phthalo greenNo. 50 : Byakuroku びゃくろく・百緑 [100 Green?] Looks like Turquoise?No. 61 : Byakugun びゃくぐん・百群 [100 Group?] Looks like a Sky BlueNo. 64 : Gunjou ぐんじょう・群青 [Ultramarine]No. 63 : Mizu みず・水 [Water] Similar to a Cobalt BlueNo. 62 : Asagi あさぎ・浅葱 [Asagi/LightOnion?] Similar to a Phthalo Blue?No. 66 : Biai びあい・美藍 [US Blue?] Like a Navy BlueNo. 67 : Ai あい・藍 [Blue]No. 38 : Aomurasaki あおむらさき・青紫 [Bruising/ Blue Purple]No. 139 : Murasaki むらさき・紫 [Purple]No. 37 : Botan ぼたん・牡丹 [Peony] Looks like Magenta/Red VioletNo. 46 : Taisha たいしゃ・岱謝 [Metabolism] Similar to a Raw SiennaNo. 47 : Kogecha こげちゃ・焦茶 [Dark Brown] Similar to Raw UmberNo. 20 : Kuro くろ・黒 [Black]No. 10 : Shiro しろ・白 [White]No. 95 : Gin ぎん・銀 [Silver]No. 91 : Aokin あおきん・青金 [Blue Gold]No. 90 : Kin きん・金 [Gold]

Great watercolors. Performed well on 140 lb cold pressed paper. Works well in conjunction with gouache and watercolor inks.

I had some concerns after reading some of the reviews stating that their pans arrived with cracked watercolor and/or poor packaging. Now, broken pan watercolor is not too terrible and can be easily remedied. But if many were arriving this way, I tend to believe that such a company MAY not be concerned about quality either. However, I was rather surprised and delighted to see that the company had changed their packaging, and now they include a heavy plastic insert that covers the pans inside the box to prevent movement. What did this mean to me? It told me that the company listened to reviewers AND cared! So, they shot straight to the top before I even wet my paintbrush.Now, the watercolor. I purchased the 36-pan set and am fairly pleased with the colors included (not all my go-to's...but this wasn't a set of 60!).The quality: The colors vary in this category, but most lay down buttery smooth. I haven't had them for long and haven't performed my 'Translucency Test' on each color yet (drawing a black line with a waterproof marker, then painting over it with each color to see if I can see the line fairly clearly through the paint (translucent), or if it obscures the line (opaque).They also mix well with each other, to create more colors...which is as expected. I can reactivate them with a bit of water after they've dried on my palette without any problems (they aren't grainy)...which means less waste for me.Lightfastedness: I'm sorry to say that I can't recall what the box said (and I'm unable to go look at the moment)...but I can say that I probably wouldn't be able to read it, as nothing is in English. I'll have to Google that concern.And...that's it for me. I'm not a professional watercolor artist. I use these for crafting cards and painting whenever the mood strikes, as it's so calming. My photo shows a 'rainbow' background for a shaker card I'm currently making.Hope this review was helpful.