Oh, hey, congratulations on finishing this series.
It's been like 4 years since this ended, and all I remember is the JP fanbase (bcs it did have online readers, though they weren't buying shit) being utterly confused with the 2nd part, split between "This sure was one of the manga of all time" and "This was a waste of time" (and a happy minority bcs they liked the 2nd FMC).
Overall negative enough that the mangaka went MIA, but seeing how his art isn't half bad, and how the publisher kept giving him chances, it wouldn't surprise me if he has continued working under a different pen name (as many mangaka have done in these kinds of situations).