I've used Shun for several years now and haven't had a brittle blade before. But proper care of any high quality knife that is used daily is needed for instance only hand washing even though it's dishwasher safe and making sure you dry after washing instead of air dry. Using a honing steel rod (not for sharpening) as needed. And if you can't seem to get the whetstone down properly then it's best to send your knives out for sharpening about once a year. These knives are meant as an investment for lifelong use. And if you use them properly and take care of your investment they will take care of you.

The steel is VG-10 or VG-2 which is high carbon steel. And also with Chromium, Vanadium, Molybdenum and Cobalt. It's designed to maintain sharpness and durability without becoming brittle, a major fault normally associated with exceptionally hard steel. The damascus is a cosmetic look but so is the case for all high end knives that have the damascus pattern. A true damascus knife is truly one that is made of damascus. The shun beholds I believe three types of steel depending on what line you purchase. And that's VG-10, VG-2 and VG-MAX.

The damascus may be a look but that doesn't denote the sheer quality of what the knife can do and personally I don't see it any more or less than a Hattori or Ryusen.

Take care of your goods just as if you were to with a samurai sword. You don't throw a sumarai around on the ground, do you? lol I don't know what Shun's you have but they are handcrafted and there are videos out there showing them being made. (and I know handcrafted can be considered a marketing gimmick)