Misono Molybdenum Steel Gyu Knife (Tubanashi) No. 612/21cm

80$ is all this knife is worth at best. It would have been a hard no pre-tariff, now it's kinda meh. The guard on the blade makes it difficult to sharpen. At this price point I'd look at one of these knives from Japan https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/products/masahiro-mv-p-molybdenum-vanadium-stainless-steel-gyuto-knife-13910?variant=40623887482963 Misono Molybdenum Steel Gyu Knife (Tubanashi) No. 612/21cm https://a.co/d/0fx1URDf Fujitora Gyuto Knife 7.1 inches (180 mm), Japan Cobalt Alloy Steel, Double-edged, Chef's Knife That Can Be Used for Cutting Meat, Cooking Fish and Vegetables, The Thickness of the Blade is Set for https://a.co/d/0dgzisxE Fujitora FU-808 Chef's Knife, 8.3 inches (210 mm), Made in Japan, Cobalt Alloy Steel, Double Edged, Chef's Knife, For Cutting Meat, Cooking Fish and Vegetables, DP Cobalt Alloy Steel Insert, With https://a.co/d/04lLSETX MAC Knife Chef series Gyutou 8.5", 2.0mm thin blade https://a.co/d/0dlxYfru I'd hesitate to buy a Mac on Amazon and would look for an established retailer, I think they are cloned. Prolly just get the misono if you want a regular knife that will perform really nicely, the masahiro if you want a bit higher performance and are happy to go with a pretty thin knife with extreme edge geometry that gets super sharp but doesn't hold it forever, or one of the tojiros if you are all in on edge retention. Personally, I have knives in all these steels, I don't notice much difference in edge retention, though my carbon knife seem to do a bit better.

Changing the bevel angle a couple degrees is no big deal. Also what you hear about those angles is a rough guess. I believe tojiros are still hand sharpened so what angle you get probably depends on the person that sharpened it. Don't use a grinder. I don't think the barrel sharpeners handle the tip correctly. Either learn the stones, get one of those articulate arm thingies, or find a knife shop that sharpens with stones and pay them. Never really heard much positive about shuns. Thick, chippy, and ugly. Don't get tojiro domascus, tourist markup type knife. Here's a regular tojiro on amazon, they are sold under the name fujitora with, idk, different quality guarantees, when not sold as tojiro at premium retailers? tl;dr doesn't matter same shit. https://www.amazon.com/Fujitora-saku-Gyuto-210mm-FU-808/dp/B06WLNJD4Q/ref=sr_1_8?sr=8-8 Here's the cheapo tojiro dp, same good steel, cheap handle. I have the petty and I like it https://www.amazon.com/Fujitora-Double-edged-Cutting-Vegetables-Thickness/dp/B06VWT71MV/ref=sr_1_6?sr=8-6 I will say, some japanese knives to respond well to a western knife steel, and I don't believe vg10 is one of them. If you're down to try carbon steel these respond really well to a knife steel: https://www.amazon.com/Masahiro-Nihonkou-japanese-Kuchiganetsuki-Gyutou-210mm/dp/B000S7Q5AE/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1 Aus-8 stainless does respond well to a steel, these no bolster minosos are a pretty good deal: https://www.amazon.com/Misono-Molybdenum-Gyutou-Collarless-No-612/dp/B001TPA9MY/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1