Those other dama vg-10 knives in abundance (like masutani) are mostly laser or water jet cut, pre-laminated stock removal knvies.
As said above, it could be hand forged cladding, and/or laminated in house. Yes, Naka's knives are hand forged, but his other dama offerings are likely pre-lam. But it's all speculation since, as you pointed out, Bernal left that to the imagination on this one. Also, it's Bernal... who will happily charge you $40 for a knife you could've dug out of a bin at Goodwill, and even save you the trouble of even picking it out yourself! But if it isn't hand laminated, that price is outta hand!
As for VG-10... It does seem to be a favorite for making "33 layer!" mass produced knives in the Japanese market, which isn't doing much for its reputation. And while I dont' like sharpening those knives nor VG-10 in general, I've used some forged versions that weren't that bad- and fairly tough and with decent edge retention. And I'm with you- in that I don't own (and don't plan to) any VG-10 myself.