MOMOKA Forest of Elves PBT Keycaps

My original goal with MOMOKA was to cover their switches, but then they also offered two keycap sets. At this time, there are four MOMOKA keycap sets to choose from, although one is quite something else. What we do have here is something else entirely, and we for once have two different keycap sets in a single keyboard build article. The first is the Forest of Elves set, and it ships in a bright, glossy pink box with the MOMOKA design treatment we will see on the other items as well, with the company name, website, and a generic "Keycaps" mentioned on the front for re-usability with other such keycap sets. This more or less carries over to the sides and back, and a central double flap and two side flaps keep the box closed. Opening it, we see the keycaps in two layers, both of which come separately packed in plastic blister trays for further protection and a clean arrangement.


The MOMOKA Forest of Elves keycap set reminds me of the Varmilo Forest Fairy, although that one is of a far more aggressive colorway and design. This one is more subtle, yet more appealing as a keycap set that does not rely on the rest of the keyboard matching it. We see two primary color tones—dark green and an off-white—with a few cream/sandstone accents. This is more on the second set than the base layer, and a Hiragana script is used in the bottom-right corner akin to many such keycap sets coming out. Not the most practical outside of Japan, this is primarily an aesthetic choice. There are 151 keys in this set, which basically has it fit all ANSI form factors ranging from 40% to over full-size. No luck for ISO users, however, as well as non-English/Japanese language layouts.


Design aside, we see the use of thick PBT plastic (1.4 mm wall thickness) with dye-sublimation for the legends and designs. The PBT base gets an anti-grease coating on top, which effectively makes for a smoother finish than the average PBT keycap. What this results in is good build quality and smoothness to the touch, with the designs adding some customization on top. It's not as glossy or vibrant as some aftermarket ABS keycaps, but the dye-sublimation allows for a more budget-friendly implementation for novelty keycaps that fit the theme, with flora and fauna alike depicted here. Some of the novelty keycaps are shown above as I won't use them all in the actual build. I suppose I should confirm that these are indeed compatible with the Cherry MX stem design for switches and opaque—this particular set employs the Cherry profile.