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

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.

victoronox/mercer/dexter/messermeister at the extremely low end (sub 50$,) or used zwilling/whusthoff knives. I think kiwi knives belong here as well, but I know nothing about them. They're touted as a good value. Next step up would be ultra budget tojiros https://www.amazon.com/Fujitora-Double-edged-Cutting-Vegetables-Thickness/dp/B06VWT71MV/?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=pd_hp_d_atf_ci_mcx_mr_ After that various japanese molybdenum vanadium knives (misono, sabun, souma/fujiwara kanefusa, mac,) tojiro DP standard bolstered line, budget japanese virgin carbons (sabun, souma fkh, masahiro rosewood, takayuki/suison carbon.) ~70-100$ In this market I think you can't go wrong with the tojiro/fujitora dp-a1 i linked. You can't do stupid shit with a thin and hard knife like that, like cutting on a hard countertop, prying at shit, cutting frozen foods, glass cutting boards, scraping with the edge perpendicular to the board. And it does need to be maintained with a whetstone or given to a real pro sharpener (like a shop that uses whetstones,) which isn't usually that expensive. Victoronox class or other x50crmov "german-ish" knives and japanese MV knives can be maintained with a knife steel /honing rod better, but will still need to see the whetstones at least once a year. Most lower end japanese virgin carbons respond well to a honing rod as well. Edit: Seems kiwi's are way softer and cheaper than the other knives mentioned, I'd consider using them for everything that isn't your primary knife (chef knife, gyuto=japanese chef knife, or santoku=slightly different japanese chef knife ideal for smaller cutting boards.)

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