diff --git a/arm9/source/common/ui.c b/arm9/source/common/ui.c
index a72f1cf..47a7726 100644
--- a/arm9/source/common/ui.c
+++ b/arm9/source/common/ui.c
@@ -242,12 +242,14 @@ void DrawCharacter(u8* screen, int character, int x, int y, int color, int bgcol
     }
 }
 
-void DrawString(u8* screen, const char *str, int x, int y, int color, int bgcolor)
+void DrawString(u8* screen, const char *str, int x, int y, int color, int bgcolor, bool fix_utf8)
 {
     size_t max_len = (((screen == TOP_SCREEN) ? SCREEN_WIDTH_TOP : SCREEN_WIDTH_BOT) - x) / font_width;
     size_t len = (strlen(str) > max_len) ? max_len : strlen(str);
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < len; i++)
-        DrawCharacter(screen, str[i], x + i * font_width, y, color, bgcolor);
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+        char c = (char) (fix_utf8 && str[i] >= 0x80) ? '?' : str[i]; 
+        DrawCharacter(screen, c, x + i * font_width, y, color, bgcolor);
+    }
 }
 
 void DrawStringF(u8* screen, int x, int y, int color, int bgcolor, const char *format, ...)
@@ -259,7 +261,7 @@ void DrawStringF(u8* screen, int x, int y, int color, int bgcolor, const char *f
     va_end(va);
 
     for (char* text = strtok(str, "\n"); text != NULL; text = strtok(NULL, "\n"), y += line_height)
-        DrawString(screen, text, x, y, color, bgcolor);
+        DrawString(screen, text, x, y, color, bgcolor, true);
 }
 
 void DrawStringCenter(u8* screen, int color, int bgcolor, const char *format, ...)
@@ -921,14 +923,14 @@ bool ShowProgress(u64 current, u64 total, const char* opstr)
     TruncateString(progstr, opstr, (bar_width / FONT_WIDTH_EXT) - 7, 8);
     snprintf(tempstr, 64, "%s (%lu%%)", progstr, prog_percent);
     ResizeString(progstr, tempstr, bar_width / FONT_WIDTH_EXT, 8, false);
-    DrawString(MAIN_SCREEN, progstr, bar_pos_x, text_pos_y, COLOR_STD_FONT, COLOR_STD_BG);
+    DrawString(MAIN_SCREEN, progstr, bar_pos_x, text_pos_y, COLOR_STD_FONT, COLOR_STD_BG, true);
     if (sec_elapsed >= 1) {
         snprintf(tempstr, 16, "ETA %02llum%02llus", sec_remain / 60, sec_remain % 60);
         ResizeString(progstr, tempstr, 16, 8, true);
         DrawString(MAIN_SCREEN, progstr, bar_pos_x + bar_width - 1 - (FONT_WIDTH_EXT * 16),
-            bar_pos_y - line_height - 1, COLOR_STD_FONT, COLOR_STD_BG);
+            bar_pos_y - line_height - 1, COLOR_STD_FONT, COLOR_STD_BG, true);
     }
-    DrawString(MAIN_SCREEN, "(hold B to cancel)", bar_pos_x + 2, text_pos_y + 14, COLOR_STD_FONT, COLOR_STD_BG);
+    DrawString(MAIN_SCREEN, "(hold B to cancel)", bar_pos_x + 2, text_pos_y + 14, COLOR_STD_FONT, COLOR_STD_BG, false);
     
     last_prog_width = prog_width;
     
diff --git a/arm9/source/common/ui.h b/arm9/source/common/ui.h
index dcded0d..e1d8794 100644
--- a/arm9/source/common/ui.h
+++ b/arm9/source/common/ui.h
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ void DrawBitmap(u8* screen, int x, int y, int w, int h, u8* bitmap);
 void DrawQrCode(u8* screen, u8* qrcode);
 
 void DrawCharacter(unsigned char *screen, int character, int x, int y, int color, int bgcolor);
-void DrawString(unsigned char *screen, const char *str, int x, int y, int color, int bgcolor);
+void DrawString(unsigned char *screen, const char *str, int x, int y, int color, int bgcolor, bool fix_utf8);
 void DrawStringF(unsigned char *screen, int x, int y, int color, int bgcolor, const char *format, ...);
 void DrawStringCenter(u8* screen, int color, int bgcolor, const char *format, ...);
 
diff --git a/arm9/source/common/utf.c b/arm9/source/common/utf.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..12d8a66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arm9/source/common/utf.c
@@ -0,0 +1,272 @@
+#include "utf.h"
+
+#define UTF_MAX_UNITS   256
+#define ASCII_UNKNOWN   ((u8) '?')
+
+// most of the code here shamelessly stolen from:
+// https://github.com/smealum/ctrulib/tree/bd34fd59dbf0691e2dba76be65f260303d8ccec7/libctru/source/util/utf
+
+
+int decode_utf8(u32 *out, const u8 *in)
+{
+    u8 code1, code2, code3, code4;
+
+    code1 = *in++;
+    if(code1 < 0x80)
+    {
+        /* 1-byte sequence */
+        *out = code1;
+        return 1;
+    }
+    else if(code1 < 0xC2)
+    {
+        return -1;
+    }
+    else if(code1 < 0xE0)
+    {
+        /* 2-byte sequence */
+        code2 = *in++;
+        if((code2 & 0xC0) != 0x80)
+        {
+            return -1;
+        }
+
+        *out = (code1 << 6) + code2 - 0x3080;
+        return 2;
+    }
+    else if(code1 < 0xF0)
+    {
+        /* 3-byte sequence */
+        code2 = *in++;
+        if((code2 & 0xC0) != 0x80)
+        {
+            return -1;
+        }
+        if(code1 == 0xE0 && code2 < 0xA0)
+        {
+            return -1;
+        }
+
+        code3 = *in++;
+        if((code3 & 0xC0) != 0x80)
+        {
+            return -1;
+        }
+
+        *out = (code1 << 12) + (code2 << 6) + code3 - 0xE2080;
+        return 3;
+    }
+    else if(code1 < 0xF5)
+    {
+        /* 4-byte sequence */
+        code2 = *in++;
+        if((code2 & 0xC0) != 0x80)
+        {
+            return -1;
+        }
+        if(code1 == 0xF0 && code2 < 0x90)
+        {
+            return -1;
+        }
+        if(code1 == 0xF4 && code2 >= 0x90)
+        {
+            return -1;
+        }
+
+        code3 = *in++;
+        if((code3 & 0xC0) != 0x80)
+        {
+            return -1;
+        }
+
+        code4 = *in++;
+        if((code4 & 0xC0) != 0x80)
+        {
+            return -1;
+        }
+
+        *out = (code1 << 18) + (code2 << 12) + (code3 << 6) + code4 - 0x3C82080;
+        return 4;
+    }
+
+    return -1;
+}
+
+int decode_utf16(u32 *out, const u16 *in)
+{
+    u16 code1, code2;
+
+    code1 = *in++;
+    if(code1 >= 0xD800 && code1 < 0xDC00)
+    {
+        /* surrogate pair */
+        code2 = *in++;
+        if(code2 >= 0xDC00 && code2 < 0xE000)
+        {
+            *out = (code1 << 10) + code2 - 0x35FDC00;
+            return 2;
+        }
+
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    *out = code1;
+    return 1;
+}
+
+int encode_utf8(u8 *out, u32 in)
+{
+    if(in < 0x80)
+    {
+        if(out != NULL)
+            *out++ = in;
+        return 1;
+    }
+    else if(in < 0x800)
+    {
+        if(out != NULL)
+        {
+            *out++ = (in >> 6) + 0xC0;
+            *out++ = (in & 0x3F) + 0x80;
+        }
+        return 2;
+    }
+    else if(in < 0x10000)
+    {
+        if(out != NULL)
+        {
+            *out++ = (in >> 12) + 0xE0;
+            *out++ = ((in >> 6) & 0x3F) + 0x80;
+            *out++ = (in & 0x3F) + 0x80;
+        }
+        return 3;
+    }
+    else if(in < 0x110000)
+    {
+        if(out != NULL)
+        {
+            *out++ = (in >> 18) + 0xF0;
+            *out++ = ((in >> 12) & 0x3F) + 0x80;
+            *out++ = ((in >> 6) & 0x3F) + 0x80;
+            *out++ = (in & 0x3F) + 0x80;
+        }
+        return 4;
+    }
+
+    return -1;
+}
+
+int encode_utf16(u16 *out, u32 in)
+{
+    if(in < 0x10000)
+    {
+        if(out != NULL)
+            *out++ = in;
+        return 1;
+    }
+    else if(in < 0x110000)
+    {
+        if(out != NULL)
+        {
+            *out++ = (in >> 10) + 0xD7C0;
+            *out++ = (in & 0x3FF) + 0xDC00;
+        }
+        return 2;
+    }
+
+    return -1;
+}
+
+int utf16_to_utf8(u8 *out, const u16 *in, int len_out, int len_in)
+{
+    int rc = 0;
+    int units;
+    u32 code;
+    u8 encoded[4];
+
+    do
+    {
+        units = decode_utf16(&code, in);
+        if(units == -1)
+            return -1;
+        
+        if (len_in >= units)
+            len_in -= units;
+        else return -1;
+
+        if(code > 0)
+        {
+            in += units;
+
+            units = encode_utf8(encoded, code);
+            if(units == -1)
+                return -1;
+
+            if(out != NULL)
+            {
+                if(rc + units <= len_out)
+                {
+                    *out++ = encoded[0];
+                    if(units > 1)
+                        *out++ = encoded[1];
+                    if(units > 2)
+                        *out++ = encoded[2];
+                    if(units > 3)
+                        *out++ = encoded[3];
+                }
+            }
+
+            if(UTF_MAX_UNITS - units >= rc)
+                rc += units;
+            else
+                return -1;
+        }
+    } while(code > 0 && len_in > 0);
+
+    return rc;
+}
+
+int utf8_to_utf16(u16 *out, const u8 *in, int len_out, int len_in)
+{
+    int rc = 0;
+    int units;
+    u32 code;
+    u16 encoded[2];
+
+    do
+    {
+        units = decode_utf8(&code, in);
+        if(units == -1)
+            return -1;
+        
+        if (len_in >= units)
+            len_in -= units;
+        else return -1;
+
+        if(code > 0)
+        {
+            in += units;
+
+            units = encode_utf16(encoded, code);
+            if(units == -1)
+                return -1;
+
+            if(out != NULL)
+            {
+                if(rc + units <= len_out)
+                {
+                    *out++ = encoded[0];
+                    if(units > 1)
+                        *out++ = encoded[1];
+                }
+            }
+
+            if(UTF_MAX_UNITS - units >= rc)
+                rc += units;
+            else
+                return -1;
+        }
+    } while(code > 0 && len_in > 0);
+
+    return rc;
+}
diff --git a/arm9/source/common/utf.h b/arm9/source/common/utf.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32aea1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/arm9/source/common/utf.h
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include "common.h"
+
+// most of the code here shamelessly stolen from:
+// https://github.com/smealum/ctrulib/tree/bd34fd59dbf0691e2dba76be65f260303d8ccec7/libctru/source/util/utf
+int utf16_to_utf8(u8 *out, const u16 *in, int len_out, int len_in);
+int utf8_to_utf16(u16 *out, const u8 *in, int len_out, int len_in);
diff --git a/arm9/source/fatfs/ffconf.h b/arm9/source/fatfs/ffconf.h
index d2149a3..2102ba3 100644
--- a/arm9/source/fatfs/ffconf.h
+++ b/arm9/source/fatfs/ffconf.h
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@
 /  ff_memfree() in ffsystem.c, need to be added to the project. */
 
 
-#define FF_LFN_UNICODE	0
+#define FF_LFN_UNICODE	2
 /* This option switches the character encoding on the API when LFN is enabled.
 /
 /   0: ANSI/OEM in current CP (TCHAR = char)
diff --git a/arm9/source/filesys/sddata.c b/arm9/source/filesys/sddata.c
index 645f36e..8d59a37 100644
--- a/arm9/source/filesys/sddata.c
+++ b/arm9/source/filesys/sddata.c
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ FRESULT fx_open (FIL* fp, const TCHAR* path, BYTE mode) {
             u8 hashstr[256];
             u8 sha256sum[32];
             u32 plen = 0;
-            // poor man's UTF-8 -> UTF-16 / uppercase -> lowercase
+            // poor man's ASCII -> UTF-16 / uppercase -> lowercase
             for (plen = 0; plen < 128; plen++) {
                 u8 symbol = path[2 + plen];
                 if ((symbol >= 'A') && (symbol <= 'Z')) symbol += ('a' - 'A');
diff --git a/arm9/source/game/romfs.c b/arm9/source/game/romfs.c
index d7091cb..d51cd58 100644
--- a/arm9/source/game/romfs.c
+++ b/arm9/source/game/romfs.c
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include "romfs.h"
+#include "utf.h"
 
 // validate header by checking offsets and sizes
 u32 ValidateLv3Header(RomFsLv3Header* lv3, u32 max_size) {
@@ -40,11 +41,11 @@ u32 HashLv3Path(u16* wname, u32 name_len, u32 offset_parent) {
 RomFsLv3DirMeta* GetLv3DirMeta(const char* name, u32 offset_parent, RomFsLv3Index* index) {
     RomFsLv3DirMeta* meta;
     
-    // wide name
+    // wide (UTF-16) name
     u16 wname[256];
-    u32 name_len = strnlen(name, 256);
-    for (name_len = 0; name[name_len]; name_len++)
-        wname[name_len] = name[name_len]; // poor mans UTF-8 -> UTF-16
+    int name_len = utf8_to_utf16(wname, (u8*) name, 255, 255);
+    if (name_len <= 0) return NULL;
+    wname[name_len] = 0;
     
     // hashing, first offset
     u32 hash = HashLv3Path(wname, name_len, offset_parent);
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ RomFsLv3DirMeta* GetLv3DirMeta(const char* name, u32 offset_parent, RomFsLv3Inde
     for (; offset < index->size_dirmeta; offset = meta->offset_samehash) {
         meta = (RomFsLv3DirMeta*) (index->dirmeta + offset);
         if ((offset_parent == meta->offset_parent) &&
-            (name_len == meta->name_len / 2) &&
+            ((u32) name_len == meta->name_len / 2) &&
             (memcmp(wname, meta->wname, name_len * 2) == 0))
             break;
     }
@@ -65,11 +66,11 @@ RomFsLv3DirMeta* GetLv3DirMeta(const char* name, u32 offset_parent, RomFsLv3Inde
 RomFsLv3FileMeta* GetLv3FileMeta(const char* name, u32 offset_parent, RomFsLv3Index* index) {
     RomFsLv3FileMeta* meta;
     
-    // wide name
+    // wide (UTF-16) name
     u16 wname[256];
-    u32 name_len = strnlen(name, 256);
-    for (name_len = 0; name[name_len]; name_len++)
-        wname[name_len] = name[name_len]; // poor mans UTF-8 -> UTF-16
+    int name_len = utf8_to_utf16(wname, (u8*) name, 255, 255);
+    if (name_len <= 0) return NULL;
+    wname[name_len] = 0;
     
     // hashing, first offset
     u32 hash = HashLv3Path(wname, name_len, offset_parent);
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ RomFsLv3FileMeta* GetLv3FileMeta(const char* name, u32 offset_parent, RomFsLv3In
     for (; offset < index->size_filemeta; offset = meta->offset_samehash) {
         meta = (RomFsLv3FileMeta*) (index->filemeta + offset);
         if ((offset_parent == meta->offset_parent) &&
-            (name_len == meta->name_len / 2) &&
+            ((u32) name_len == meta->name_len / 2) &&
             (memcmp(wname, meta->wname, name_len * 2) == 0))
             break;
     }
diff --git a/arm9/source/godmode.c b/arm9/source/godmode.c
index 52b7671..ace1cdb 100644
--- a/arm9/source/godmode.c
+++ b/arm9/source/godmode.c
@@ -619,7 +619,7 @@ u32 FileHexViewer(const char* path) {
             if (x_off >= 0) DrawStringF(screen, x_off - x0, y, cutoff ? COLOR_HVOFFS : COLOR_HVOFFSI,
                 COLOR_STD_BG, "%08X", (unsigned int) offset + curr_pos);
             if (x_ascii >= 0) {
-                DrawString(screen, ascii, x_ascii - x0, y, COLOR_HVASCII, COLOR_STD_BG);
+                DrawString(screen, ascii, x_ascii - x0, y, COLOR_HVASCII, COLOR_STD_BG, false);
                 for (u32 i = marked0; i < marked1; i++)
                     DrawCharacter(screen, ascii[i % cols], x_ascii - x0 + (FONT_WIDTH_EXT * i), y, COLOR_MARKED, COLOR_STD_BG);
                 if (edit_mode && ((u32) cursor / cols == row)) DrawCharacter(screen, ascii[cursor % cols],
diff --git a/arm9/source/utils/scripting.c b/arm9/source/utils/scripting.c
index 033487b..6c14a87 100644
--- a/arm9/source/utils/scripting.c
+++ b/arm9/source/utils/scripting.c
@@ -1394,7 +1394,7 @@ void MemTextView(const char* text, u32 len, char* line0, int off_disp, int lno,
         if (ar) memcpy(txtstr + p_ar, ar_str, strnlen(ar_str, 16));
         
         // draw line number & text
-        DrawString(TOP_SCREEN, txtstr, x_txt, y, color_text, COLOR_STD_BG);
+        DrawString(TOP_SCREEN, txtstr, x_txt, y, color_text, COLOR_STD_BG, false);
         if (TV_LNOS > 0) { // line number
             if (ptr != ptr_next)
                 DrawStringF(TOP_SCREEN, x_lno, y, ((ptr == text) || (*(ptr-1) == '\n')) ? COLOR_TVOFFS : COLOR_TVOFFSL, COLOR_STD_BG, "%0*lu", TV_LNOS, nln);
@@ -1404,7 +1404,7 @@ void MemTextView(const char* text, u32 len, char* line0, int off_disp, int lno,
         // colorize comment if is_script
         if ((cmt_start > 0) && ((u32) cmt_start < TV_LLEN_DISP)) {
             memset(txtstr, ' ', cmt_start);
-            DrawString(TOP_SCREEN, txtstr, x_txt, y, script_color_comment, COLOR_TRANSPARENT);
+            DrawString(TOP_SCREEN, txtstr, x_txt, y, script_color_comment, COLOR_TRANSPARENT, false);
         }
         
         // colorize arrows
diff --git a/arm9/source/virtual/vgame.c b/arm9/source/virtual/vgame.c
index 2c7cad6..572d71c 100644
--- a/arm9/source/virtual/vgame.c
+++ b/arm9/source/virtual/vgame.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "vgame.h"
 #include "image.h"
 #include "game.h"
+#include "utf.h"
 #include "aes.h"
 
 #define VGAME_BUFFER_SIZE   0x200000 // at least 2MB, multiple of 0x200
@@ -1139,8 +1140,7 @@ bool GetVGameLv3Filename(char* name, const VirtualFile* vfile, u32 n_chars) {
         name_len = filemeta->name_len / 2;
     }
     memset(name, 0, n_chars);
-    for (u32 i = 0; (i < (n_chars-1)) && (i < name_len); i++)
-        name[i] = wname[i]; // poor mans UTF-16 -> UTF-8 (doesn't work proper for special chars)
+    utf16_to_utf8((u8*) name, wname, n_chars-1, name_len);
     
     return true;
 }