I don't find the 2 Yani tenors I have(880,902) to be bland at all.
Actually, they are some of the best instruments I've played, and I've owned
and played my share of great vintage instruments, and thought I preferred
them to new horns, which I did, for a longtime.
As far as comparisons to MK VIs [and the people that prefer them] I
would say you'd first need to know which MK VIs they find to be superior
to a [particular]Yanagisawa.
The last 2 VI tenors I owned were not remarkable instruments at all.
I have played some ideal examples but they belonged to other players or
were out of my reach price-wise.
The blandness issue or so-called neutrality of tone re: Yani(or even Yamaha)
I don't quite understand, although I
read about that all the time.
I think these horns are very responsive, as any good horn should be, to reed/mpc. changes.
They are freer-blowing than the average vintage Selmer(SBA/VI) and because
of that, I think they get a bad rap from SBA/VI players who like to push against
something to get their sound.
The Yanis seem to have the response of a Conn or King but w/ a more centered
tone, a'la Selmer.
I think the Yanis play like some of the better VIs I've played but not like many
VIs that people own/prefer which, of course vary quite a bit over the range.
Or, maybe it's more reasonable to say that they play like I
wish some of the
ones I've owned did; those sent me to American vintage horns for a number
of years..
As always, YMMV ..