The faces are weird again...
What exactly do you mean by that?
I just re-read almost all of this series not too long ago, and I think their faces have always been highly variable, depending on the tone of the individual scene, or even in differing shots/expressions within scenes (and I don't just mean regular vs. chibi style).
For example, QT's nose can seem longer and more pointed depending on whether she's supposed to be doing a comic take on SJ goofing around or she's being seen in a "beauty shot," but I think that's been true all along.
So I'd just like to hear more specifically what you think has changed in the drawing.
Just compere this one with the ones SJ visits QT at her place.
There, their eyes were bigger and this one has too much eyeliner. Their faces´outline and contour is much less polished and QT nose changed (And in my opinion to the worse). The delineation seems harsher here while it was softer at the QT house visit.
At that moment SJ was the best I could´ve hope for. A tomboy who could also be rather feminine and cute. Almost as good as Kase-san ALMOST.