Really? I felt that it was a considerable step down, and noticed what I considered to be a deterioration in the quality of the series since even before he received the diagnosis (when I found out I was sad but unsurprised.)

Considering that Nation stood out from the trend I noticed in this work though, it might be that he's struggling to deal with an overworked setting rather than losing his skills, and I suggested as much when I wrote a review for a friend's livejournal community.