Short-Form Storytelling in Southeast Asia: Chinese AI-Generated Dramas, Anime-Style Content, and Local Serialized Media

1. Introduction on Chinese Short Dramas & AI-Generated Content In Southeast Asia

Chinese short dramas, known as duanju (短剧), have emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments in China’s digital entertainment industry. Characterized by vertical-screen formats and ultra-short episodes lasting one to two minutes, duanju are designed specifically for mobile consumption and rapid narrative engagement. By 2024, the domestic Chinese short drama industry had reached an estimated audience size of approximately 1.6 billion viewers, generating revenues of around ¥50 billion (approximately USD 7 billion). This explosive growth reflects broader shifts in viewing behavior toward fragmented, mobile-first, and serialized storytelling, particularly among younger audiences.

Following their domestic success, Chinese short drama platforms have increasingly expanded into Southeast Asia, positioning the region as a key overseas growth market. Platforms such as ShortMax, GoodShort, and DramaBox have actively localized their offerings, making Chinese-style short dramas widely accessible across countries including Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Among these platforms, DramaBox stands out, having reached 90 million registered users globally and approximately 30 million monthly active users, while also ranking among the top-downloaded short drama applications in Southeast Asia in 2024. According to Data.ai, Southeast Asia has become one of the world’s leading regions for short drama app downloads, with several countries in the region consistently appearing among the top global markets. Industry estimates further indicate that short drama revenues in Southeast Asia have already reached the hundreds of millions of US dollars, underscoring both strong consumer demand and monetization potential.

In parallel with platform expansion, AI-generated microdramas represent a growing innovation within China’s short drama ecosystem. Leveraging AI-generated content (AIGC) tools on platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou, Chinese producers have begun creating short dramas with minimal human intervention in scripting, animation, and visual generation. Some AI-generated series have achieved remarkable viewership; for example, the AI-produced short drama 《山海奇镜之劈波斩浪》 reportedly exceeded 50 million views on Chinese platforms. While detailed viewership data for AI-generated dramas specifically within Southeast Asia remains limited, the increasing presence of Chinese short drama apps in the region suggests that AI-generated formats are likely to be indirectly exported and consumed alongside human-produced content. As Southeast Asian audiences continue to adopt Chinese short drama platforms, exposure to AI-driven storytelling is expected to grow, further shaping the region’s evolving short-form entertainment landscape.

2. Local Short Dramas in Southeast Asia

According to Data.ai and industry reports, Southeast Asia’s short drama market has expanded rapidly, reaching over USD 300 million in annual revenue around 2023 and recording approximately 150% year-on-year growth. This surge reflects the region’s strong adoption of mobile-first entertainment formats and increasing monetization of short-form serialized content. App download data further highlights Southeast Asia’s importance as a global growth engine for short dramas. In Q1 2025, Indonesia ranked first globally for short drama app downloads, reaching approximately 35.4 million downloads, while Thailand and the Philippines also placed within the global top ten markets. These figures underscore Southeast Asia’s emergence as one of the world’s most dynamic and competitive regions for short drama consumption.

3. Anime & Anime-style Series in Southeast Asia

Anime has become a major cultural and entertainment force across Southeast Asia, particularly among younger audiences, and plays a significant role in shaping regional fandom culture. Global studies indicate that around three in ten consumers worldwide watch anime on a weekly basis, with engagement levels especially high in Thailand and Indonesia. In Indonesia, anime’s influence is clearly reflected in streaming behavior: anime titles account for approximately 18% of total Netflix viewing minutes, and in certain periods, popular anime series have even outperformed major real-world events in total watch time. These patterns highlight how anime is no longer a niche genre in Southeast Asia, but a mainstream entertainment format with strong emotional and cultural resonance.

Beyond imported Japanese content, Southeast Asia has also developed its own local and regional anime-style productions that enjoy wide popularity. A prominent example is Ejen Ali, a Malaysian animated series that blends anime-inspired aesthetics with local storytelling. The series has achieved cross-border appeal, being co-licensed with Disney+ Hotstar, and its sustained popularity has led to multiple season renewals, demonstrating the commercial viability of Southeast Asian–produced animated IP. Such successes show that regional audiences are receptive not only to Japanese anime, but also to locally created animation that reflects familiar cultural contexts while adopting global visual styles.

This strong anime fandom has also attracted substantial brand and celebrity involvement across Southeast Asia. Many consumer brands actively incorporate anime and animation into their marketing strategies, leveraging the genre’s high engagement among youth audiences. Brand collaborations—particularly mobile games partnering with well-known anime franchises, limited-edition merchandise, and animated brand campaigns—have become common, signaling increased corporate investment in anime-related content ecosystems. Together, these developments position anime and anime-style series as a powerful cultural and commercial driver in Southeast Asia’s evolving media landscape.

4. Local Live-Action Short Dramas & Series in SEA

Local live-action short dramas and series play a central role in Southeast Asia’s entertainment ecosystem, with Thailand and Indonesia standing out as major content producers. Thailand, in particular, has a long-established drama industry that consistently generates series with strong regional and international appeal. Mainstream Thai dramas such as Khluen Chiwit have achieved widespread viewership across Southeast Asia, reflecting the country’s ability to produce emotionally driven narratives that resonate beyond domestic audiences. In parallel, Thai Boys’ Love (BL) dramas have emerged as a powerful global export genre. Series like 2gether: The Series have accumulated hundreds of millions of streams across regional and international platforms, cultivating large online fandoms and significantly boosting Thailand’s soft power in youth-oriented entertainment markets.

Alongside Thailand’s success, original local content on OTT platforms has expanded rapidly across Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia. Domestic platforms such as Vidio, as well as regional and Chinese-backed streaming services including WeTV, iQIYI, and Viu, have increasingly invested in local short drama formats, mini-series, and youth-focused episodic content. These productions are often tailored to local languages, cultural norms, and social issues, enabling platforms to compete more effectively against imported content. The growth of locally produced live-action short dramas underscores Southeast Asia’s shift toward platform-driven storytelling, where short-form, high-engagement series are used to capture younger audiences and strengthen regional content ecosystems.

5. Brands & Celebrities Involved with Short Drama / Anime-Style Content in SEA

- Chinese Streaming Platform & Brand Initiatives

Chinese streaming platforms have played an increasingly influential role in shaping Southeast Asia’s short drama and serialized content landscape, particularly through localization strategies in Indonesia and Thailand. Major players such as iQIYI and Tencent’s WeTV have actively adapted their content libraries and marketing approaches to local tastes, languages, and viewing habits. This localization extends beyond content acquisition to include on-the-ground promotional activities, signaling long-term commitment to Southeast Asian markets.

As part of their regional expansion strategies, these platforms have leveraged celebrity-driven marketing to build brand awareness and trust among local audiences. For example, iQIYI hosted large-scale promotional events in Jakarta and Bangkok and appointed Chinese actor Chen Zheyuan as a global ambassador for its international service. The use of well-known Chinese celebrities reflects a deliberate strategy to transfer star power across borders, tapping into existing fan communities in Southeast Asia to accelerate user acquisition and platform visibility.

In addition to marketing, iQIYI and WeTV have invested heavily in original and locally produced dramas, including short-form series and promotional microdramas designed for mobile-first consumption. These shorter formats are often used as engagement tools to introduce new IP, test audience preferences, and drive social media discussion. Collectively, these initiatives demonstrate how Chinese streaming platforms combine localized production, celebrity endorsement, and short-form storytelling to strengthen their position in Southeast Asia’s increasingly competitive digital entertainment market.

- Localized Short Drama Celebrities & Influencers

Localized celebrities and influencers play a critical role in driving engagement for short drama content across Southeast Asia, particularly on short-form video platforms such as TikTok. Tourism boards, brands, and content producers increasingly collaborate with local creators who already command massive followings, allowing narrative-based short dramas to achieve rapid visibility and cultural relevance. This strategy leverages the strong parasocial relationships between influencers and their audiences, making short dramas feel more authentic and locally grounded rather than imported.

A clear example is the Macau Tourism Board’s TikTok short drama campaigns, which strategically cast popular influencers from key Southeast Asian markets. In Indonesia, the short drama Love Between Time and Space starred Indonesian short-drama influencers Abi Albian and Aura Sekartika, whose combined social media reach exceeds 660 million followers across platforms. In Thailand, the short drama Switch Happen featured well-known TikTok short-drama personality ladyso.th, who commands over 570 million followers. By anchoring scripted narratives around familiar local faces, these campaigns significantly enhanced viewer engagement and cross-border resonance.

These cases illustrate a broader trend in Southeast Asia’s short drama ecosystem: the pairing of localized influencers with serialized, story-driven short-form content. Rather than relying solely on platform IP or foreign celebrities, brands and platforms increasingly co-create short dramas with local creators to maximize reach, cultural relevance, and shareability. This approach has proven particularly effective for tourism marketing and branded storytelling, where emotional narratives combined with influencer credibility drive both high view counts and strong audience recall.

- Major Regional Celebrities & Brand Endorsements (Indirect Content Influence)

While traditional celebrities in Southeast Asia are not always directly involved in short drama productions, many play an important indirect role in shaping the short-form content ecosystem through brand endorsements and digital campaigns. In Thailand, leading actors and entertainers frequently collaborate with major global and regional brands that rely heavily on short video platforms, social media storytelling, and streaming services. As a result, these celebrities act as powerful amplifiers of short-form and serialized content, helping to bridge traditional television fame with newer, mobile-first viewing habits.

One prominent example is Vachirawit Chivaaree (“Bright”), an internationally recognized Thai actor whose brand partnerships include Adidas, Samsung, Burberry, and Calvin Klein. His campaigns consistently generate millions in media impact value and are widely distributed across digital channels, engaging younger audiences who are also core consumers of short dramas and vertical video content. Similarly, Suppasit Jongcheveevat (“Mew”) has collaborated with brands such as Skechers, Shopee Thailand, H&M Asia, and Garena Free Fire Thailand. His strong presence on social media positions him as a key digital influencer capable of driving traffic toward platforms and content formats favored by Gen Z users.

Other high-profile Thai celebrities further illustrate this cross-media influence. Bella Ranee Campen, a leading Thai actress and luxury brand ambassador for Fendi, represents a bridge between traditional television dramas and digitally driven brand storytelling. Likewise, Nadech Kugimiya, one of Thailand’s most recognizable actors, serves as a brand presenter for Shopee, OPPO, 7-Eleven, and AirAsia, often appearing in digital-first campaigns that integrate trending short videos and promotional drama clips. Collectively, these examples highlight how celebrity-brand partnerships indirectly fuel visibility for short dramas and serialized short-form content, reinforcing platform engagement and shaping viewing behaviors among Southeast Asia’s digitally native audiences.

- Major Brand Engagement with Short Video Ecosystems

TikTok Shop has emerged as a major driver of viral content campaigns in Southeast Asia, with international beauty brands actively leveraging the platform’s short-form video and livestream ecosystems. Global players such as L’Oréal—including brands like Maybelline, Garnier, and L’Oréal Paris (欧莱雅)—have launched localized short video series and interactive live events tailored to Southeast Asian audiences. These campaigns often feature popular local celebrity pairings, such as Aou & Boom and Keng & Namping, whose on-screen chemistry and existing fan bases help transform branded content into highly shareable entertainment, frequently trending on TikTok.

These initiatives illustrate how brands increasingly adopt story-driven short content combined with influencer advocacy to deepen engagement. Rather than relying solely on traditional advertising, campaigns are structured like mini-narratives or episodic content, closely resembling short drama formats that resonate with Gen Z and young millennial users. By blending commerce, entertainment, and influencer storytelling, TikTok Shop campaigns not only drive immediate product interaction and sales but also stimulate broader content consumption on the platform. This convergence blurs the boundaries between brand marketing, short drama storytelling, and influencer media, reinforcing TikTok’s role as a central hub for digital entertainment and social commerce in Southeast Asia.

东南亚短视频叙事：中国 AI 生成短剧、动漫风格内容与本土连载媒体

1. 中国短剧与 AI 生成内容在东南亚概况

与平台出海同步，AI 生成微短剧成为中国短剧生态的重要创新。依托抖音、快手等平台的 AIGC 工具，中国创作者在剧本、动画、视觉生成等环节大幅降低人工参与，批量生产短剧。部分 AI 短剧播放量亮眼，如《山海奇镜之劈波斩浪》在国内平台播放量超5000 万。尽管东南亚 AI 短剧的具体数据有限，但随着中国短剧 App 在当地渗透加深，AI 叙事内容将随真人剧一同被间接输出与消费，持续塑造东南亚短视频娱乐格局。

2. 东南亚本土短剧市场

下载数据更凸显东南亚的全球引擎地位：2025 年第一季度，印尼以 3542 万次下载位居全球第一，泰国、菲律宾也进入全球前十。数据印证东南亚已成为全球短剧消费最活跃、竞争最激烈的地区之一。

3. 东南亚动漫及动漫风格剧集

4. 东南亚本土真人短剧与剧集

5. 东南亚短剧 / 动漫内容的品牌与名人参与

中国流媒体平台与品牌举措

本土化短剧明星与网红

典型案例：澳门旅游局在 TikTok 推出短剧营销，精准选用东南亚核心市场网红。

印尼短剧《Love Between Time and Space》由当地短剧网红 Abi Albian、Aura Sekartika 主演，全平台粉丝总量超6.6 亿。

泰国短剧《Switch Happen》由 TikTok 红人 ladyso.th 出演，粉丝超5.7 亿。

以本土熟脸承载剧情，显著提升观看互动与跨境传播力。

这些案例体现东南亚短剧生态的主流趋势：本土网红 + 剧情化短视频内容绑定。品牌与平台不再只依赖平台 IP 或外国明星，转而与本地创作者共创短剧，最大化覆盖、文化适配与传播性。这一模式在旅游营销、品牌故事化传播中效果突出，情感叙事 + 网红公信力带来高播放与强记忆点。

区域知名明星与品牌代言（间接内容影响）

典型案例：

Bright（Vachirawit Chivaaree）：合作 Adidas、Samsung、Burberry、Calvin Klein，营销活动媒体价值数百万，覆盖全数字渠道，精准触达短剧与竖屏内容核心年轻用户。

Mew（Suppasit Jongcheveevat）：合作 Skechers、Shopee 泰国、H&M 亚洲、Garena Free Fire 泰国，社交影响力强，能为 Z 世代偏好的平台与内容引流。

Bella Ranee：Fendi 代言，连接传统泰剧与数字品牌叙事。

Nadech Kugimiya：Shopee、OPPO、7-11、亚航代言人，常出现在融合热门短视频与宣传剧片段的数字首推广告。

品牌深度参与短视频生态

淘森出海主要帮助中国文化出海做服务，非遗文化、非遗工坊、传统文化、政企服务、文化新三样、短剧、漫剧、游戏、IP、潮玩、博物馆出海服务。并在欧美地区打造中国文化节。