Attack on Titan’s gigantic monsters set to terrorize this year’s Sapporo Snow Festival 【Photos】

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It won’t just be the cold that has visitors to this year’s event shivering.

With Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido firmly in the grip of sub-zero conditions, it’s almost time for the Sapporo Snow Festival. The annual event is an icy wonderland of artistic expression, and with Japan’s well-known love of animation, last year’s iteration of the saw snowy sculptures of cast members from anime such as Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, Yokai Watch, and Sazae-san, along with Disney hits Frozen and Big Hero 6.

But while seeing those family-friendly characters probably put a warm feeling in the hearts of visitors, this year they’ll be greeted by something that should send a chill down their spines: a pair of ferocious fighting giants from Attack on Titan.

兄が宣伝してくれと言ってたので(^ω^) 札幌雪まつりの進撃雪像途中経過だそうです〜。開催されたら見に来てね〜だそうです！ https://t.co/MIGLa5BnaT
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ノラ (@___lush7___) January 31, 2016

The older brother of Japanese Twitter user Nora (@___lush7___) snapped these photos, then asked his little sister to share them and encourage people to come up to Sapporo to see the spectacle with their own eyes. The sculpture is still a work-in-progress, but the artists involved are well on their way to conveying the massive scale of the monstrous antagonists from manga creator Hajime Isayama’s smash hit.

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The use of snow drifts to simulate the creature’s steamy background is especially impressive, and the finished sculpture won’t be just of the semi-skinless Colossal Titan. The series’ largest giant will be joined by a smaller rival, lunging towards the city’s protective anti-Titan wall to deliver a vicious left hook, as shown in the concept model the team is working off of.

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