Terminal cancer, a marriage of convenience, and many secrets; a manipulative villain, a love triangle, and false accusations; a passionate doctor, a sex scene, and abandonment. Phew! What a traditional soap opera would take weeks to develop, the script of "Just One More Time" condenses into just ten chapters—precisely, 13 minutes and 24 seconds.
Each of the 90 episodes ends at the moment of greatest tension, danger, or revelation. Why is Marina preparing her own funeral? Did Marina and Henrique never love each other? Will Rebecca be unmasked? One chapter ends and the next is already waiting. From the 11th episode onwards, however, you have to pay to continue watching. When the payment barrier appears, the viewer has already been hooked by a frenetic succession of narrative cliffhangers.
This is the logic behind microdramas . Originating in China in the early 2020s under the name duanju , the format consists of chapters of up to two minutes, designed for mobile phones. Also called vertical soap operas or mini-series, the model incorporates the dynamics of social media: fast consumption, continuous scrolling, and uninterrupted stimuli.
With low production costs and high retention potential, the Chinese formula quickly conquered the world. Valued globally at US$11 billion in 2025, the microdrama industry is expected to double in size in the next four years, reaching US$22 billion. Of the US$14 billion projected for 2026, approximately 21.5% will be generated outside of China, according to estimates by analysts at the British consultancy Omdia.
Among the new territories, Brazil emerges as one of the most promising markets. On Google Play, vertical soap opera apps are among the most downloaded in the country. In the last three days of June, fifteen of them were in the Top 100. And five were in the top ten: PineDrama (#2), TikTok Lite Series (#4), Reelife (#5), ReelShort (#7) and Sua Novela (#10).
Conducted by Mintech, a mobile data intelligence and digital behavior analysis company, the survey evaluated the number of downloads and updates in a sample of 5 million Brazilians.
“The research came about somewhat by chance. At first, I wanted to study the effect of the World Cup, but the micro-dramas caught my attention quite a bit,” says Gabriel Martins Mendes, COO of Mintech, in a conversation with NeoFeed . “I had already seen some commercials, but I had no idea of the magnitude of the phenomenon.”
Although individual spending on micro-dramas is typically low, the business model of these platforms deserves attention from the credit market, warns Gustavo Cruz, CEO of Mintech.
"Just like what happened with online betting, we are facing a highly recurring consumption model driven by low-value charges," he says.
"They may seem irrelevant, but when they are repeated daily, they can compromise part of the consumer's disposable income and alter their financial behavior," he adds.
Beyond the economic dimension, microdramas have already entered the scientific radar. Studies are investigating how elements of the format—such as quick rewards, continuous suspense, and ease of access—can influence behavior and encourage patterns of compulsive consumption.
The "pain of paying"
Inspired by mobile games, the mechanics for accessing locked chapters incorporate gamification elements. Viewers can advance the story through subscriptions or by obtaining virtual "coins".
Credits can be earned by watching 30-second ads or completing daily login missions. However, the supposed free access is limited. These mechanisms only unlock five to seven episodes per day. Almost nothing for soap operas with a hundred chapters.
It's also possible to buy the coins. Generally, the packs cost between US$1 and US$5. Since they don't unlock many chapters, the balance tends to run out quickly. And, in the eagerness to find out what happens in the next episode, new purchases are made. They monetized curiosity.
The use of virtual currencies exploits a powerful psychological mechanism. With the conversion of real money into credits, the brain typically doesn't immediately associate the purchase with the bank balance.
Spending on abstract units reduces the so-called "pain of paying." A cognitive process described by American economists Drazen Prelec and George Loewenstein in the late 1990s as payment decoupling.
The same architecture that encourages microtransactions is also designed to keep the viewer in an intense cycle of episodes. The brain has little time to assess whether it's worth continuing.
In 2025, in China, microdramas exploded in popularity, generating US$14.5 billion—surpassing the box office of traditional cinema.
Although it did not investigate microdramas, a study published in 2016 in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General reveals a telling fact: like food and money, information has reward value.
Who betrayed them? Who killed them? What will happen now? The more unexpected the revelation, the more it captures attention.
Not surprisingly, microdramas are full of plot twists , abrupt relationship changes, revelations of secret identities, and unexpected inheritances.
Unlike gambling addiction , which is well documented, including through neuroimaging studies, the scientific literature has not yet demonstrated a causal relationship between microdramas and clinical addiction.
But there is already evidence that elements intrinsic to the format can encourage excessive consumption.
Beyond the breakneck pace and insatiable curiosity, the plots are easy to follow and explore hyperbolic fantasies of transformation, such as meteoric social ascension, sudden fortunes, and idealized romances. They also favor escapism and, at the touch of a button, can be accessed anytime, anywhere.
A profusion of clichés
While the compelling potential of microdramas has yet to be determined, the market is already measuring their ability to capture and retain the viewer's attention.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, the giant ReelShort recorded an average of 35.7 minutes per user per day in the United States — compared to 24.8 minutes for Netflix , 26.9 minutes for Amazon Prime Video , and 23 minutes for Disney+ .
On track to reach its first billion dollars in revenue, the company is responsible for some of the biggest successes in vertical entertainment.
Produced in Brazil and adapted from a Chinese soap opera, the microdrama Just One More Time is one of them.
Released in March, the tumultuous romance of Marina and Henrique reached 35 million views in just four days. In less than a month, it surpassed the 100 million mark.
If the couple ends up together? Of course. Microdramas are a patchwork of clichés.
