Eek, yeah, he is. And he definitely doesn't look cute there. Kind of alienish...

He was definitely rounder and a bit more cartoony in the early volumes of the manga, both because of his younger age and because the artist's style improved over the course of the series, but nowhere near that bad.

The artists is also the same one who drew Death Note, though that's ended now, too. I hope whatever he starts next will be as good (he's not the author for either of these, just collaborating as the artist).