A Strawberry Farm, a Cross-Border Romance, and a Historic TV Partnership
So here's something worth getting excited about β one of Korea's most beloved romantic comedy actors is back in the genre after a three-year hiatus, and he's doing it in a way nobody has quite seen before. Ji Chang-wook (μ§μ°½μ±), widely nicknamed the "rom-com master" among Korean drama fans, is set to star in Merry Berry Love, a brand-new Korean-Japanese co-production dropping globally on Disney+ on October 7, 2025.
What makes this one particularly special is the pairing behind the camera. Merry Berry Love marks the very first collaboration between CJ ENM β one of South Korea's biggest entertainment conglomerates β and Nippon TV, one of Japan's major terrestrial broadcast networks. Disney+ previewed the project as far back as last year at its "Disney+ Originals Preview 2025" event in Hong Kong, billing it as the first-ever Korean-Japanese co-produced content on the platform. Now, about a year later, we finally have a trailer, a poster, and a premiere date to look forward to.
What's the Show Actually About?
The premise is equal parts charming and refreshing. Ji Chang-wook plays Lee Yu-bin, a perfectionist space designer who loses everything overnight and ends up β of all places β working as a farm laborer in a strawberry field on a remote Japanese island. His co-star is Japanese actress Imada Mio, who plays Shirahama Karin, a dedicated Japanese farmer whose entire world revolves around strawberries. The two couldn't be more different, and naturally, they fall for each other.
What's really interesting here is the way the show leans into that contrast. Yu-bin goes from high-flying creative professional to dirt-under-the-fingernails field worker, and the trailer β released on September 2 alongside the main poster β shows exactly that transformation. We see him catching a falling Karin in the strawberry field, struggling through the rough physical work, and gradually becoming a steady presence in her life. There's also Nam Yoon-su playing Park Gu-nam, a working holiday participant who chose to stay on the island for love, adding another layer of warmth and energy to the ensemble.
"The character setup itself was so interesting to me... I always wanted to work on something in Japan, so when the offer came, I felt this could be a really exciting collaboration." β Ji Chang-wook, at the Disney+ Originals Preview 2025 in Hong Kong
The show is written by Lee Jae-yoon and directed by the duo of Kim Su-jeong and No Yeong-seop. The main poster captures the two leads embracing in a strawberry field, with the tagline: "Today, what kind of love did you plant?" β which, honestly, sets the mood perfectly.
Ji Chang-wook's Rom-Com Comeback
For fans who've been waiting, this is a big deal. Ji Chang-wook last appeared in the romantic comedy genre in Welcome to Samdal-ri (JTBC, 2023). Before that, he built his reputation as a go-to leading man for the genre through dramas like Suspicious Partner, Love in the Moonlight, and My Love from the Star β so the three-year gap felt noticeable.
And Merry Berry Love isn't just a genre return for him β it's also his first Japanese series, period. That's uncharted territory even for a veteran like Ji Chang-wook, and he's been candid about the mix of nerves and excitement that came with it.
"This is a first for me, so I was very nervous, but I prepared hard. It's a work filled with humanism and love β please look forward to it." β Ji Chang-wook
His co-star Imada Mio, a rising actress well-known in Japan, also shared her enthusiasm ahead of filming, saying she had always loved Korean romantic comedies and was thrilled to actually experience that world firsthand as a participant.
Why This Partnership Matters
The Korean-Japanese entertainment relationship has always been complicated by history and politics, which is exactly what makes creative collaborations like this one stand out. CJ ENM and Nippon TV coming together for a full co-production β not just a licensing deal or a format adaptation, but a genuine joint creative project β is genuinely significant in the industry.
The show will premiere simultaneously on Disney+ worldwide and on Nippon TV in Japan on October 7, with new episodes airing every Wednesday on Nippon TV thereafter. The dual-platform, dual-market strategy means the show is designed from the ground up to speak to both Korean and Japanese audiences, while also being packaged for global viewers through Disney+.
So here's the thing β this isn't just another feel-good drama. It's a test case for what Korean-Japanese co-productions can look like at scale, under the umbrella of a major global streaming platform. If it lands well with audiences in both countries, it could open doors for a lot more of this kind of collaboration.
Mark Your Calendar
Whether you're a long-time Ji Chang-wook fan counting down the days, a viewer curious about the K-drama and J-drama crossover experiment, or just someone looking for a sweet, well-produced romantic series this fall β Merry Berry Love is shaping up to be one of the more interesting premieres of October 2025. It hits Disney+ globally on October 7.
This article is based on reports from Ttlnews, Yonhap News, Wikitree.
