His words of advice to Kachiro and Katsuo, for instance: they're so delighted that buchou actually spoke to them, but it was so clear that it was because Tezuka didn't know if he'd have the chance to do so in the future.

Yeah, I get that. And it really does kill me to watch Tezuka in this ep.

In the manga, they don't seem to keep very much track of him--certainly no visiting, and he doesn't even tell them he's coming home.

But there was that time that Fuji went to Kyuushuu and -- oh, wait, that was doujinshi. *g*

That's a good point about the visiting. The focus is just so different between the manga and the anime.