Gyutos are known as Western-style Japanese knives, combining the 'long triangle' form of a French chef's knife with just a bit of a swooping belly à la German chef's knives. Using it to quarter fennel bulbs, it sliced through cleanly where my own (very sharp) knives and the Shun felt like they were simultaneously slicing and wedging that fennel apart-not a good thing. The gyuto-which translates directly as 'cow sword'-was more up my alley, weight-forward but only slightly, with a truly stunning edge.
I did really enjoy using it to plow through a pile of parsley, wokka-wokka style.
Plenty of people love that weight-forward balance, and with lots of use I might get to like it. Since my santoku is fairly light and evenly balanced, and my chef's knife is slightly handle-heavy, what I figured out is that it's not the Shun, it's me. I cut through some peppers and onions, but I really started to understand what was 'wrong' when I picked up my chef's knife and santoku, both of which suddenly felt like they were doing a wheelie except for my cleaver, Shun's nakiri was the most weight-forward knife I've ever held. When it was time to get chopping, I diced onions with the Shun, and boy did it feel unnatural.
