I really thought the menkiri was a killer knife, but I just personally slightly prefer a more standard cleaver shape. I never planned on selling it off, but when I started adopting the more minimalist approach to my collection it fell on the chopping block. I have been and will always be a huge Takeda fanboy.
It's hard to say how "worth it" they are now that the price has increased 150% since I bought mine. I sold my Takeda a few weeks ago and I do miss it, maybe more than any cleaver I've sold in recent memory. Like I said earlier, my personal favorite route is to pick a blade that speaks to you and then add a custom handle. I do like wa handles on cleavers, but I think I prefer in the end a shorter handle. I do love the CCK handles but I like a slightly fatter version like the original on the Masahiro M3 (sans the horrible finish and huge gaps
)
I made something similar (round and bulbous) for my Tatatsuna
But it's also hard to beat the style that the late great Fish perfected:
If the Takedas speak to you then go for it, you can always add a larger / smaller / shorter / fatter octagon handle or even a round one later more like the CCK style if you want.