diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index faea191..c915135 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -23,3 +23,4 @@ oneshot_JA_2_ver4.pot
 oneshot_JA_2_fixed_ver3.pot
 oneshot_JA_2_ver3_checked.pot
 oneshot_JA_Mariko1_WIP.pot
+*.pot
diff --git a/scripts/Game_Oneshot.rb b/scripts/Game_Oneshot.rb
index 8966800..d349b65 100644
--- a/scripts/Game_Oneshot.rb
+++ b/scripts/Game_Oneshot.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ class Game_Oneshot
     if $GDC
       @player_name = ''
     else
-      @player_name = Game_Oneshot.get_user_name
+      @player_name = Game_Oneshot.get_user_name.force_encoding("utf-8")
     end
     @lights = {}
     @plight_timer = nil