If you are looking for a knife that the whole forum agrees is the ideal 240mm gyuto, that's not going to happen. Every ones work situation, i.e. kitchen, likes and dislikes, are different.
The home kitchens, that I work in, typically are small. Even a few of the McMansions kitchens, have been small, and awkward to work in. A lot of times, I am going to help out, somebody in the family, with a party.
I needed a knife that was good in small spaces, but could still handle a high volume of food. After trying a variety of knives, the cleaver was the knife, that best met my needs.
What does your kitchen allow? Can you use a wood handled knife or does it have to be synthetic? Does your chef allow carbon knives? How often do you wipe down your knifes? Carbon, will rust if not kept up.
The more questions you ask yourself and can answer will give you a better idea of what knife to pick up.
The first Japanese knife should be relatively inexpensive. This is the knife that should give you a good idea of what Japanese knifes are all about. Since you are going to be learning on this knife, that is making mistakes, especially when you start to sharpen, an expensive knife doesn't make sense.
A few years ago, the recommendation was to buy an all purpose or thicker knife, as the first one. All purpose or workhorse knives, are more robust, and have a wider margin of error, when it comes to sharpening, then their thin or laser counter parts. The knives that have been mentioned in your threads have been all over the place. The Gessin Ginga is a thin knife, the Hattori is between a laser and a work horse, Takeda is thin, Zakuri is a work horse. I don't know where the JCK CarboNext fits, but I'd assume it would be in lines of the Hattori.
Except for the Carbonext, I woudn't recommend any of the knifes for a first time buyer. Instead take a look at Fujiwara, Hiromoto, Tojiro, Yoshiro. You should be able to get into a 240mm gyuto for $150 or less.
None of these knives will perform anywhere near to their potential until they are sharpened. Sending your knife to Dave is highly recommended. He has experience, working with pro cooks. He will put a sharp, but strong edge, that should give you a good idea of how the knife can perform in the pro environment. When it comes time to sharpen, you will have his bevels as a guide. A lot of forum members, when they buy new knives have them shipped straight to Dave, for the initial sharpening.
After you gain some experience, that's when the fun and expense starts, because there is always something to explore, whether it be a steel type, a manufacturer, or sharpening technique.
Jay