Good news, everyone - it seems we won't have to wait too long to get into Honkai Star Rail's next area. Recently, Hoyoverse announced an extension to update 3.8, pushing back our departure to the next destination in 4.0 by a few weeks.
This is allegedly due to current tensions between China and Japan, which means that the next area, previously thought to be Japanese-themed, is going through some last-minute changes. A new post on social media now confirms the new area we're going to is Planarcadia, and gives us a very small hint as to what to expect.
We know that the Elation rules where we're going next - the Aeon Aha will be heavily involved, so think Masked Fools and Mourning Actors type vibes. This explains the screenshot HSR's social media accounts posted, showing off six characters, which include Sparkle.
From left to right, the silhouettes are Sparkle, a mystery figure which could be a Himeko SP or Yao Guang, Blade, La Mancha (an upcoming Galaxy Ranger), Silver Wolf, and what is almost definitely a Sakura version based on the Honkai Impact character. There are rumors of Blade, Sparkle, Himeko, and Silver Wolf SPs coming up, so this might be confirmation of that.
What I'm most excited for is the potential of a Sampo five-star version. Surely it's happening. I'll riot if it doesn't.
What we know about the new area (other than who's appearing) is quite shallow. Apparently, the Express once "crashed into" Planarcadia, where Aha inducted Elation followers into Their game, where they can experience being an Aeon… for one whole minute. Japes are sure to be had, and it may be that what we see isn't quite real.
Also, note that the screenshot showing a gigantic PomPom with a huge Cocolia inflatable isn't the new destination - it's Belobog, which we're seemingly going back to as part of a festival with Dan Heng and March 7th.
The plus side of all this is that every player gets 1k free stellar jades (and ten fuel) as a gift to make up for the delay to the new content. I'm sure you can guess who I'm saving up for on the Honkai Star Rail banners.