South Korean entertainment company CJ ENM and Japanese broadcaster Nippon TV have announced the upcoming premiere of their joint dramatic project «Merry Berry Love» (メリーベリーラブ, 메리 베리 러브).

The series is scheduled to launch in October 2026 on the global streaming platform Disney+, and will also air weekly on Wednesdays on Japan’s Nippon TV channel.

The lead roles are played by Ji Chang Wook («Healer», «Empress Ki») and Imada Mio («Tokyo Revengers», «Bad Girl: Glass Ceiling Crushers»).

At the heart of the story is a love affair unfolding on the fictional Japanese island of Charo. The protagonist, Lee Yu Bin (Ji Chang Wook), is a South Korean spatial designer who achieved great success at home but loses everything overnight due to an unspecified incident. In a bid to restore his standing, he travels to a Japanese island, where he meets Karin Shirahama (Imada Mio) – a young farmer who inherited her grandfather’s strawberry plantation and has devoted her life to growing berries.

Read more: Imada Mio to star alongside Ji Chang Wook in rom-com «Merry Berry Love»

The heroine, in the actress’s own words, is a «bright and energetic girl», yet due to illness and past trauma, she is timid in relationships. As the story progresses, the two, separated by a language barrier and cultural differences, learn to understand each other and overcome obstacles on their path to love.

The project is directed by Kim Soo Jung, known for her work on the drama «Semantic Error», with a screenplay by Lee Jae Yoon.

The ensemble cast also includes Nam Yoon Soo («Today’s Webtoon», «Extracurricular»), who plays Park Gu Nam – a participant in a working holiday programme who works part-time at a local supermarket and is hopelessly in love with Mari, the heroine’s friend. The role of Mari herself, a tarot reader specialising in love predictions, went to Japanese actress Kumada Rinka («The Reason We Fall in Love», «Love Me to Death»).

Filming took place in both South Korea and Japan. In March 2026, the pair were spotted on set in Seoul’s Hongdae district – the actors were seen walking down the street holding hands.

Ji Chang Wook confessed that he had long wanted to take part in a Korean-Japanese joint project and found a role that, in his opinion, suits him perfectly and will resonate with Japanese audiences.

According to Ji Chang Wook, his character is in many ways similar to himself – ambitious at work and inclined to give his all – though the actor wryly noted that he would not want to inherit his character’s tendency to make mistakes.

Imada Mio herself remarked that the language barrier presented a certain difficulty, but since the story begins with mutual attraction and a desire to understand each other, she tried to convey these emotions through her performance.

The project  «Merry Berry Love» is part of a growing wave of cross-border collaborations in the Korean entertainment industry, as companies seek to expand their global presence by combining creative talent, financing and audiences from different countries.

Recent examples of such cooperation include the Netflix series «Human Vapor» (ガス人間, Gas Ninge), which had its world premiere on 2 July, and «#KidnapGame» (키드냅게임, Kidnap Game), scheduled for an October release.

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The fantasy thriller «Human Vapor» was written by Yeon Sang Ho, the creator of «Train to Busan», and his long-time collaborator Ryu Yong Jae, with Japanese filmmaker Katayama Shinzo serving as director.

«#KidnapGame» is a large-scale pan-Asian detective thriller created in collaboration between South Korean company SimStory, Japan’s Fuji Television Network and Hong Kong’s MakerVille. The action unfolds across seven major Asian cities, and features stars from these countries, led by Korean actor Lee Joon Ki, Japanese star Sakaguchi Kentaro and Taiwanese actress Alice Ko.

Sources 1, 2, 3