Love the art but not the story

Am I the only one who was blown away by the art but really disappointed by the story? In my opinion their relationship didn't have good development, and it didn't actually feel like there were any romantic feelings on Ren's part until literally the very end in the extras. I also feel like he should have apologized or at least shown some remorse for how he treated Kaede throughout pretty much the entire story, or at least been nicer to him after they became mates.