Kirk Spitzer

USA TODAY

TOKYO — Godzilla is back. Only this time the fire-breathing monster is facing a more potent Japanese military.

Shin (New) Godzilla is the biggest box-office hit of the year in Japan and reflects a changed vision of how the nation views its defense forces and relations with the United States, which still has troops based in the country.

In the movie, fearless Japanese troops rush in to battle the raging monster and America is seen as a meddling bully. That is a big change from earlier Godzilla movies, in which Japanese troops are ineffective.

The new image of Japan’s military, officially known as the “Self Defense Force” (SDF), comes as the government has moved to lift constitutional barriers that forbid the military from engaging in offensive combat operations.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently eased some restrictions on the SDF, partly in response to the growing military strength and assertiveness of neighboring China.

The portrayal of the SDF in Shin Godzilla has played well among moviegoers, said Mark Schilling, longtime film critic for The Japan Times.

“In previous 'Godzilla' movies, the SDF was not exactly effective against its fire-breathing foe, with its bullets and shells only annoying the beast,” Schilling said. In the new version, “The SDF ends up looking like heroes, while their aircraft and other (technology and weaponry) never fail to look cool.”

The film has sold 4.1 million tickets and earned more than $60 million, as of Sept. 4, far exceeding initial expectations when the film was released in late July.

Junichi Nakatsuka, 30, an information technology worker, said the film made him feel proud to be Japanese.

“I never knew the SDF could fight. I always thought of them as just for disasters or humanitarian missions,” said Nakatsuka, who saw the movie twice.

Public approval of the SDF jumped dramatically after the March 2011 triple-disaster, when more than 100,000 troops rushed to the disaster zone to help contain fallout from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The Americans in the movie issue orders to the Japanese and prepare to drop a nuclear bomb on Tokyo if all else failed.

“That country is always giving orders,” an exasperated prime minister says after finishing a phone conversation with the American president.

More than 25,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan.

“When you watch this movie, it’s very clear that in the back of our minds, we in Japan have a certain level of discomfort when we think about U.S.-Japan relations,” said Toshihiro Nakayama, a professor of American politics and diplomacy at Keio University in Tokyo.

He said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s criticism of U.S. Japanese-trade policy is biased in favor of Japan, and calls for Japan to pay more for U.S. troops based here has caused many to re-think the long-standing alliance.

“When you face the Trump crisis, there is no convincing reason for us to stay with the United States,” Nakayama said.

Shin Godzilla is scheduled for limited release in North America in early October under the title Godzilla Resurgence.