The "grain markings" come from a layer of faux damascus pattern welding on the outside of both the the Hattori and the Shuns. The Japanese call it "suminagashi." It's not an integral part of the cutting blade, but a kind of cladding called san-mai (three layers). The stainless blade core is placed between two layers of soft, pattern-welded stainless and the three layers are heated and "forged-welded" together. This kind of construction serves a purpose with certain kinds of steels, but with the VG-10 used in Shun Classics, it's more of a way of getting the decoration on the blade. Unfortunately, because the cladding is so soft, one of the problems with the Shun is that the pattern is very easily damaged (and somewhat expensive to repair).
The Ken Onion has a nice handle which some people love, and other people ... well not so much. Unfortunately it's attached to a rather unexceptional knife -- as good Japanese knives go. Don't get me wrong, a Shun will kick a Wusthof's butt in every performance respect. But compared to actual good knives -- say a MAC Professional, a Masamoto VG, or a Sakai Takayuki -- not so much.
Cooking Angry and I both use an old fashioned K-Sabatier carbon cook's knife, less expensive than even a Shun Classic, and I suppose you could say primitive in comparison. But it's a better edge, a more useful profile, and the K-Sabatier handle and extended ferrule have a comfortable magic even the Onion can't match.
FWIW, I started rounding the spines on my knives over before Cooking Angry was born.
I'm not suggesting you run out and buy a Sabatier au carbone; it's definitely not for everyone. Nor am I saying a Ken Onion isn't worth buying and loving; nor, for that matter, am I saying it's not the perfect knife for you. Just be aware that most people who know knives think there's much better for the money.
Good luck,
BDL
