Quite apart from anything else, the music in this episode took my breath away. I love the new FictionJunction song. I don't remember this part of the manga very well, but
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I agree that there must have been some kind of lack of build up towards Fai using his magic in the anime. It didn't seem quite as climatic as it should. It could be partly because of the visual presentation - I believe Fai had his own page when using his magic in the manga, which kind of created this pause that doesn't exist in the anime.
Oh, and what was up with the next episode preview? o.O Are they inventing more Kurogane flashbacks, or something? I definitely see Souma (and I'm counting that as a plus).