Is panko just pretentious breadcrumbs?
The big difference between panko and &quot;regular&quot; breadcrumbs is that panko is more like flakes, so it creates a much different texture when used as a breading.
It's more similar to using cracker or cereal crumbs than regular bread in terms of shape, but the texture is more bread-like.
For a picture comparison, and explanation of how panko is made, see UpperCrustents's how panko is made.
The difference is lost when using it as a binder in something like meatballs ... similar to using flake salt vs. other shapes of salt.  So in some cases, using it might be considered pretentious.  (or just using whatever's on hand).