HONG KONG — As U.S. television series produce longer and fewer episodes, a new genre from China is gaining American fans by going in the opposite direction.

Known as minidramas, micro dramas or vertical dramas, they are soap operas condensed into a minute or two per episode.

Each show, reminiscent of a telenovela, is split into dozens of chapters, each about two minutes long and with all the soapy elements: cheesy romance, over-the-top drama and abundant cliff-hangers.

“The revenge ones, oh, my God, they’re so good,” California-based retail business owner Jacarius Murphy told NBC News in a video interview.

Murphy is a fan of the minidramas, known as duanju in Chinese, which focus heavily on romance, revenge and fantasy. The stories tend to involve wealthy characters such as a chief

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