Episode 9 was too dark a story and over half of it was redone. The original version of the episode could only be obtained by taping it off air. It is very different from the later version.
This episode was fansubbed almost 20 years ago, presumably from an off-air VHS. The fansubber of course no longer exists. I have no connection to the fansubber.
I got this copy by ripping a homemade VCD. It is 512x384 which is not, according to what I could find, VCD resolution. The video source was obviously lower resolution than that.
I have heard that this episode got the director fired, and that there was a second such episode. Japanese Wikipedia does not mention either of those things. I have also heard that the episode was included in the limited edition Japanese DVD box set from 2006, but it is not mentioned in the page at https://sakura-taisen.com/archives/goods/bandaivisual2.html If it was really released in the limited edition set, nobody seems to have it, either fansubbed or at all.
Comments - 3
Name42
The fansub group that made this release is A-F (Anime-Fansubs). The file hashes match what AniDB has for the A-F release: https://anidb.net/group/29/anime/400/release.
I have no idea what the original filename was, however. The AniDB ED2K URI has this: “Sakura_Taisen_-_09_-_The_Girl_Called_Kazuar_-_[A-F].avi” (no quotes). However, the file could have been renamed before it was submitted to AniDB, and the original filename may have had spaces (though probably not, given the age).
Also, @arromdee, I don’t think this release needs to be marked in red / as a remake. It’s not a re-encode or anything but is an original fansub release from back in the day.
Name42
The Japanese Wikipedia does mention that it was included in the box set (warning: Google Translate):
The store page source link that Wikipedia references mentions the TV broadcast version of episode 9: https://www.hmv.co.jp/artist_サクラ大戦_000000000467131/item_サクラ大戦TV-DVD-BOX_1259986
A few other stores that sold the DVD box also mention the TV broadcast version of episode 9:
https://www.suruga-ya.jp/product/detail/128019985
https://diskunion.net/movie/ct/detail/XATD_4934569626639
But yeah, I can’t find it anywhere online at all, not even in a raw format.
Name42
Nevermind, this is unlikely the original filename. This might be partially autogenerated by AniDB. For example, sxales’ original filename from https://nyaa.si/view/1272806 is
Sakura Wars - 09 (BDRip 720x480p x265 HEVC FLACx2 5.1+2.0)(Dual Audio)[sxales].mkv
, but AniDB hasSakura_Taisen_-_09_-_The_Girl_Called_Kazuar_-_[sxales](dub_en.ja)_(sub_en).mkv
in the ED2K link (https://anidb.net/episode/13787).