This particular episode seems to focus on the series' weakest point: an unbroken narrative. It lacked the swift changes that typify much of the rest of the series. And that last bit about the "Spirit of Japan" bit hung on for so long one might be tempted to think they were being serious for a moment (though it works as a shout-out to the tea/raman ceremony running gag that permeates the rest of the series).
Overall, a low point in the series, though perhaps a necessary one, to allow the coming climax (or perhaps anticlimax?) to stand out in relation.