The right tool for the job. For most cooking tasks, a paring knife sized blade is insufficient. A gyuto is fine, thanks. Awkwardness is not a joy.
One thing I noticed from visiting Chef Knives/Cooking forums when researching is that they consider $100 to be a very expensive knife. I wonder what they would think of a Chris Reeve folder or even a Benchmade bugout.
TL;DR
There is a kitchen knife world just as extensive & expensive as the EDC world. You aren't looking in quite the right places to compare your better EDC knives to kitchen knives. A $100 kitchen knife is a beginner blade.
I'm guessing this is on a cooking forum, because prepping food is only part of cooking - a necessary evil for some. On knife forums, the blade & not the other cooking processes are the focus.
Realistically, regardless of the focus of the forum a kitchen knife from a big box store is the equivalent of a EDC blade from a big box store. Knives that aren't really held in high regard here, if I'm reading correctly. This can explain why some will find their EDC knife to be better, they are comparing it to the equivalent of a gas station folder.
On a kitchen knife forum, $100 is a budget knife.
To put it in perspective, Shun, Wusthof, & Henkels/Miyabi start their main line 8" chef knives at $100. These aren't considered to give value for the money either - high level of F&F, but there are better blades for the money.
On a forum heavy with gyuto users, <$100 are starter knives. a couple of good ones for those making the transition. Useful beaters. The equivalent of Victorinox & Ontario Rats.
Budget knives are maybe about $150 while "good" knives are more like $200 and up.
A higher end knife would be about $300 and up. Notice these brackets are about 2-3x that of EDC.
But many there wouldn't be using a paring knife sized blade either, utility knives (petty knife) is often the choice. A $100-$250 knife.
OTOH people aren't looking for the best F&F between parts, they want the best blade. A custom handle will be $30 and up.
I don't know that in a kitchen context a Chris Reeve or Bugout would be held in high regard. While people do compare steels, the right profile for the user, grind, heat treat, & thickness will mean more - to the point of coming up regularly when a new person tries to pick a knife based on steel. Few "supersteel" knives beyond Aogami Super & HAP40. The hardness of a Japanese knife is 60-65 HRC, so if people find S30VN chippy, they will have issues here. The issue of edge holding wars with getting the ultimate fine edge. The steels of a EDC knife isn't going to impress if it can't get the keenest of edges.
JC57 is right. Just as an EDC knife nut might have a dozen of more knives in rotation, a J-knife nut will have a half dozen or more. This is before going into the issue of sharpening - freehand is preferred and some have more tied up in stones than knives.