Finally caught up with this series.
One thing that stands out in this episode is the beautiful poem by Osada Hiroshi that Kurushima recited. Turns out the inclusion of such a long scene in the anime is by the author's request: it was supposed to be in the life-action TV drama adaptation years ago, but on the day it was scheduled to be filmed (2011-03-11), the Tohoku earthquake happened; they were not able to film it and it was cut out.
It is a pretty good adaptation overall I think, even though many things are cut out from the source material due to length. (The source manga is 21 volumes long and we are at around volume 8 & 9.) I certainly enjoyed it very much. I still don't know why they decided to re-adapt a series from 20 years ago but I am glad it happened.