diff --git a/examples/showcase.zig b/examples/showcase.zig
index 4fc76f6..ac38001 100644
--- a/examples/showcase.zig
+++ b/examples/showcase.zig
@@ -231,8 +231,7 @@ const Model = struct {
             \\const std = @import("std");
             \\
             \\pub fn main() !void {
-            \\    const stdout = std.Io.getStdOut().writer();
-            \\    try stdout.print("Hello, {s}!\n", .{"world"});
+            \\    std.debug.print("Hello, {s}!\n", .{"world"});
             \\}
             \\
             \\// Edit this code with the text area component.
diff --git a/src/input/mouse.zig b/src/input/mouse.zig
index 7b914d1..795c66f 100644
--- a/src/input/mouse.zig
+++ b/src/input/mouse.zig
@@ -37,15 +37,7 @@ pub const MouseEvent = struct {
     event_type: EventType,
     modifiers: keys.Modifiers = .{},
 
-    pub fn format(
-        self: MouseEvent,
-        comptime fmt: []const u8,
-        options: std.fmt.FormatOptions,
-        writer: *Writer,
-    ) !void {
-        _ = fmt;
-        _ = options;
-
+    pub fn format(self: MouseEvent, writer: *Writer) Writer.Error!void {
         try writer.print("{s} {s} at ({d}, {d})", .{
             @tagName(self.event_type),
             @tagName(self.button),
diff --git a/src/layout/layer.zig b/src/layout/layer.zig
index 0232c2b..6ef1e6c 100644
--- a/src/layout/layer.zig
+++ b/src/layout/layer.zig
@@ -63,8 +63,9 @@ pub const LayerStack = struct {
         const grid = allocator.alloc(Cell, w * h) catch return "";
 
         // Fill with background
+        const bg = [1]u8{self.background};
         for (grid) |*cell| {
-            cell.* = .{ .char = self.background, .ansi_prefix = "" };
+            cell.* = .{ .content = &bg, .ansi_prefix = "" };
         }
 
         // Sort layers by z-index
@@ -89,12 +90,14 @@ pub const LayerStack = struct {
             if (row > 0) writer.writeByte('\n') catch {};
             for (0..w) |col| {
                 const cell = grid[row * w + col];
+                // Empty content marks the second column of a wide character
+                if (cell.content.len == 0) continue;
                 if (cell.ansi_prefix.len > 0) {
                     writer.writeAll(cell.ansi_prefix) catch {};
-                    writer.writeByte(cell.char) catch {};
+                    writer.writeAll(cell.content) catch {};
                     writer.writeAll("\x1b[0m") catch {};
                 } else {
-                    writer.writeByte(cell.char) catch {};
+                    writer.writeAll(cell.content) catch {};
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -135,22 +138,36 @@ pub const LayerStack = struct {
                 continue;
             }
 
-            if (col < w) {
-                const is_transparent = layer.transparent and content[i] == ' ' and current_ansi.len == 0;
-                if (!is_transparent) {
-                    grid[row * w + col] = .{
-                        .char = content[i],
-                        .ansi_prefix = current_ansi,
-                    };
+            // Decode one UTF-8 character; treat invalid bytes as single cells
+            const char_len = std.unicode.utf8ByteSequenceLength(content[i]) catch 1;
+            const end = @min(i + char_len, content.len);
+            const char = content[i..end];
+            const codepoint: u21 = std.unicode.utf8Decode(char) catch content[i];
+            const char_width = measure.charWidth(codepoint);
+            i = end;
+
+            // Zero-width characters (e.g. combining marks) get no cell
+            if (char_width == 0) continue;
+
+            const is_transparent = layer.transparent and codepoint == ' ' and current_ansi.len == 0;
+            if (!is_transparent and col + char_width <= w) {
+                grid[row * w + col] = .{
+                    .content = char,
+                    .ansi_prefix = current_ansi,
+                };
+                // A wide character covers the following cell as well
+                if (char_width == 2) {
+                    grid[row * w + col + 1] = .{ .content = "" };
                 }
-                col += 1;
             }
-            i += 1;
+            col += char_width;
         }
     }
 };
 
 const Cell = struct {
-    char: u8 = ' ',
+    /// UTF-8 bytes of the character in this cell.
+    /// Empty for the second column of a wide character.
+    content: []const u8 = " ",
     ansi_prefix: []const u8 = "",
 };
diff --git a/tests/layout_tests.zig b/tests/layout_tests.zig
index fc25f4a..39c91a9 100644
--- a/tests/layout_tests.zig
+++ b/tests/layout_tests.zig
@@ -133,3 +133,63 @@ test "joinVertical convenience" {
     defer allocator.free(result);
     try testing.expectEqualStrings("A\nB", result);
 }
+
+test "layer.LayerStack - multibyte UTF-8 chars occupy one cell" {
+    var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(testing.allocator);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+    const allocator = arena.allocator();
+
+    var stack = zz.layout.layer.LayerStack.init(allocator);
+    defer stack.deinit();
+    stack.setSize(5, 1);
+
+    try stack.push(.{ .content = "╭─╮", .transparent = false });
+
+    try testing.expectEqualStrings("╭─╮  ", stack.render(allocator));
+}
+
+test "layer.LayerStack - styled multibyte border chars stay intact" {
+    var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(testing.allocator);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+    const allocator = arena.allocator();
+
+    var stack = zz.layout.layer.LayerStack.init(allocator);
+    defer stack.deinit();
+    stack.setSize(4, 1);
+
+    try stack.push(.{ .content = "\x1b[36m─│\x1b[0m", .transparent = false });
+
+    try testing.expectEqualStrings(
+        "\x1b[36m─\x1b[0m\x1b[36m│\x1b[0m  ",
+        stack.render(allocator),
+    );
+}
+
+test "layer.LayerStack - overlay aligns on UTF-8 background" {
+    var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(testing.allocator);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+    const allocator = arena.allocator();
+
+    var stack = zz.layout.layer.LayerStack.init(allocator);
+    defer stack.deinit();
+    stack.setSize(6, 1);
+
+    try stack.push(.{ .content = "──────", .z = 0, .transparent = false });
+    try stack.push(.{ .content = "AB", .x = 2, .z = 1 });
+
+    try testing.expectEqualStrings("──AB──", stack.render(allocator));
+}
+
+test "layer.LayerStack - wide characters cover two cells" {
+    var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(testing.allocator);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+    const allocator = arena.allocator();
+
+    var stack = zz.layout.layer.LayerStack.init(allocator);
+    defer stack.deinit();
+    stack.setSize(4, 1);
+
+    try stack.push(.{ .content = "你a", .transparent = false });
+
+    try testing.expectEqualStrings("你a ", stack.render(allocator));
+}