Even clunky ones? I have some friends who want to play a strategy game that's exceptionally frustratingly hard.

And since the game's in Japanese, it'll be more hard than it has to be! (Unless, y'know, you understand Japanese).

Okay, joking aside, I don't think there are any utilities around for any SRW game.

Actually, that doesn't come into it really. You can learn the menu system within about a half hour. I started playing these games before I knew any written Japanese, and I still probably don't know as much as I should. It took me an afternoon to learn Katakana for names, and a couple of days to learn the kanji that you just need to know in order to play, and then Mark Neidengard's wonderful guides took care of the story.

It becomes second nature after a while. I know the typical menu commands so well that I don't play the game with any less confidence than I would a game in English. Seriously.