I came from some old Ozora/TK-16 kendamas before playing with this one and as a beginner inching his way towards intermediate stuff, I've been having fun with the Kaizen Half Split! I was pleasantly surprised with the bigger cups, and the pattern on the tama is both great for hole control (watching the rotation of the colors to track where the hole is) and stylish on its own! I also feel great knowing that I have a tama with stickier paint than the Ozora/TK-16 ones I mentioned earlier, so I can easily continue using this kendama throughout my journey as I approach more advanced tricks like Lighthouse and Lunars (and I've landed a couple Lighthouses already as of writing this review)! Lastly, I enjoy the lil details on this kendama, such as the inside of the base cup being painted and the Kaizen marking on the top rim of the big cup which makes for a stylish, yet subtle way of reminding the user which cup on the serato is the big cup.
As for the packaging, I appreciate the beginner's guide that quickly goes over grips, maneuvers, and tricks, and I'm happy over the generous amount of stickers included (four 2.5in x 2.5in stickers and ten 6.5in x 2.5in stickers)!
I'm unsure on whether I'm qualified enough to ask about such as I don't know how much better it feels to play on a kendama with a metal bearing, but it'd be neat if these kendamas came with metal bearings attached to the string instead of a plastic bead. I understand the plastic bead choice if it's to keep these kendamas at a better price for beginners, and I've only been thinking about the bead while going for Lighthouses and trying to steady the ken as it spins around a little sometimes. This kendama still plays pretty well!
Overall, while I still appreciate the OG kendama manufacturers for existing, the Kaizen Half Split makes me really happy that I got back into kendama after picking up the hobby and dropping it for a while, and I feel like this one's going to last me a long time! If you're in a similar boat as me (new and started with old kendamas), while the longer string may take a little bit to get used to, you'll be doing yourself a favor by getting a Kaizen Half Split!