my database fail to convert to utf8

[sasiko]

japanese characters becomes nonsense symbols, i  tried the addon utf8 converter and the 4.0 upgrade script

using both utf8 variety to no avail

 

but when i do clean new install on 3.4.7 the utf8 conversion works just fine :S

 

ips staff says its due to my sevrer locale but doubt it after seeing how brand new installation works just fine?