What Happened
On July 9, 2026 — the day after Version 1.2 launched — NTE’s official social channels posted the first splash art for Zankou, framed in the drip marketing format Hotta Studio uses for upcoming banner characters. This is the same pattern used to introduce Shinku and Iroi ahead of 1.2, which means Version 1.3 planning has officially begun.
The community reaction was immediate and loud. Zankou has been one of the most-requested characters since the game’s launch, and her appearance as a story villain made her playable debut feel like a question of when, not if.
What Is Confirmed
| Detail | Status |
|---|---|
| Rarity | S-Rank ✅ Confirmed |
| Attribute | Incantation ✅ Confirmed |
| Banner version | Version 1.3 (strongly indicated) |
| Estimated Phase 1 date | ~August 19, 2026 (community estimate, not official) |
| Skill kit | Not yet revealed |
| Weapon type | Not yet revealed |
Who Is Zankou?
Zankou is not a new character — she has been in the game since Version 1.0 as an NPC and story antagonist. Here is her lore background:
Faction: The Scarlet Letter, the criminal organization that drove the main story of Version 1.0.
Family: She is the daughter of Inanna (the Scarlet Letter’s leader), the younger sister of Daffodil, and the older sister of Poinsette. This makes her one of the most story-connected characters in the game.
Story role: Zankou served as the final boss of the Chapter 4 Debt Collector questline. Her boss fight featured slow, deliberate heavy katana strikes rather than fast combo strings — though boss AI and playable kits do not always translate directly.
Alias: Bella
Her transition from story villain to playable S-Rank follows a pattern common in gacha games, and her existing model and animation work from the boss fight likely accelerated her development timeline.
Community Reaction
The Zankou reveal generated some of the highest engagement of the post-1.2 launch period on Reddit and the NTELeaks subreddit. Representative reactions:
“I didn’t expect her to become playable so soon.”
“My 300 pulls are ready.”
“Well, there goes my plan of saving during 1.3.”
The consensus is that Zankou is a high-priority pull for players who have been following the story, particularly those invested in the Scarlet Letter arc. Her family connections to Daffodil and Poinsette give her strong story relevance going into whatever Version 1.3’s main questline covers.
Should You Save Pulls Now?
Short answer: not yet.
With no confirmed skill kit, weapon type, or official banner phase, committing pull currency to 1.3 now is premature. The right time to make a pull decision is after Hotta Studio’s pre-release livestream for 1.3, which is where they typically confirm final kits, banner dates, and phase splits.
What to do instead:
If you are currently mid-way through Shinku’s banner or planning for Iroi in Phase 2 of 1.2 (July 29), finish those decisions first. Version 1.3 is approximately six weeks away based on NTE’s standard patch cadence, which gives you time to complete 1.2 content and reassess.
Watch for a second splash art reveal, which would typically confirm the Phase 2 character for 1.3. Nothing along those lines has surfaced as of this writing.
What Comes After Zankou?
Based on community-compiled leak information, the broader 1.3 and 1.4 roadmap includes additional characters such as Lingko, Nitsa, and Exe (male character). None of these have official confirmation from Hotta Studio. Treat any specific phase assignments as community estimates rather than locked dates.
This page will be updated as official information is released. Check back after the 1.3 preview livestream.