There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
Overall Fujiwara knives are usually a good value for the price with good fit and finish (grinds, polish, etc.). JapaneseChefsKnife.com sells the entire line but the Massdrop prices are about $10 less per knife without shipping, which is a standard $7 on JCK so $17 less overall if buying just one.
Here's the entire line on JCK: http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/FKMSeries.html#FKM Same thing on ChefKnivesToGo which has reviews for each knife: http://www.chefknivestogo.com/fufkmse.html
I would recommend any of these for someone looking for quality and performance similar to, if not better than, a Wusthof or Zwilling, but with a Japanese profile.
Durability is always something to keep in mind since a thinner edge will have less resilience, but this knife and the Misen are both AUS-8 which is a tougher steel. As long as you don't try to do anything crazy you'll be fine.
Maybe I'll give it a shot since I've been trying to practice Katsuramuki but failing pretty hardcore.