#Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong

[absolutebl]

Genuine Question: Given how much people hate problematic topics in BL eg: kp, mame, love syndrome, etc. why is everyone so damn excited about Only Friends? Like we know nothing about the show. It's GMMTV so how sexy is it going to get? you know, like it's GMMTV. I like the cast as much as anyone and particularly FirstKhao but I don't see this 'sexiness' everyone is going so crazy over? Is it some bts thing like I know the director is jojo and he's gay. Is that why everyone so excited? Is it because we just haven't gotten anything really brilliant this year that gets the whole BL fandom together and that's why people are hoping this will, is that what's going on? I like everyone involved well enough but 'sexy', 'crazy', 'problematic', 'high heat'... I don't get it.

Only Friends & Jojo

Genuine answer.

Okay so this question got me invested enough to get off the phone, over to the laptop, and onto hotel wifi, which means typos rather than dictation homophones, but there it is.

I guess what I am saying it...

mistakes will be made

From the tenor of your question methinks you have not watched Friend Zone? It's a 2 part series. Mostly messy hets but...

Also a TON of broad spectrum queer rep (lesbian, bi, ace, demi). Real queers, not sanitized for straight consumption.

Because yeah, GMMTV will get messy and go into higher heat levels in a late night way (not in a KP way).

But actually what has most people excited about Only Friends is it being sourced in this man:

Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong

Jojo is a screenwriter (originals) and director, openly gay, multifaceted and a little experimental, naturally talented (on the job trained - he's an archaeologist originally), and he is behind:

The Warp Effect, Friend Zone and MOST importantly (IMHO)...

3 Will Be Free

There are others too, but for the purposes of this post, those are the 3 that count. I think of him a little as the GMMTV director version of Ohm's acting.

Jojo specializes in:

ensemble pieces,

good chemistry (NOT necessarily high heat, so by this I mean actor chemistry with each other all around - couples, cast, team, production)

working with and finding actors within GMMTV's stable who work well together (even if that means busting up a pair),

a queer lens,

queer rep,

and often very messy story (as in he is not invested in the traditional beats of a romance, let alone a BL).

AND he can shoot action (this is a specific skill set for directors and it's NOT easy),

thus he will shoot his sex/intimacy & COMEDY scenes as if they WERE action sequences.

This makes his stuff particularly exciting to watch. It's dynamic, there's a lot of movement, the eye is caught and dragged places. He doesn't use dirty/peekaboo framing or central aperture or manga style (not with INTENT the way trained directors do). In fact he does none of those things I harp on about because I like the romance stuff.

He's not being clever with us. He's being honest, but still applying skill. His stuff not quite raw, but also not really directed. You can tell he gives his actors a script, throws them together and then instructs them to just BE THOSE CHARACTERS. He has a light touch, he trusts them. He's not fussy or nit-picky. He's not doing a million takes to get that sene exactly how he envisions it. His ensemble pieces are just that, group projects.

His eye is wide, even for intimacy, by which I mean: he controls and watches for multiple actors at once when there are a lot of them on screen together, without them feeling stiff.

His style is quite organic but not too gritty.

Struggling to understand what I mean?

For example, watch a Jojo "group of friends chatting" scene where everyone is just standing around then watch the same thing in, say, SCOY. You'll see what I mean. SCOY is also a very queer ensemble piece, but it will feel quite stiff, unnatural, and "planned" (staged) by comparison.

For the giffers out there you might notice that Jojo's stuff is particularly difficult to gif cleanly? This is why.

I find him an exciting director. I didn't cover him in my directors overview because at the time he hadn't done much BL (and frankly, he still hasn't). It's not his focus.

I think Only Friends is actually not likely to be very BL. Queer = yes, BL = NO. He won't hit the tropes and there is no reason to assume it will end happily for all couples (if any). That's not Jojo's point of view.

He doesn't play our game. As a result, some of those excited by the idea of this show (or excited the general enthusiasm & anticipation around it), may be doomed to disappointment.

It's one of the reasons you don't see me getting excited about it.

I'm a fan of specifically the fluffy side of BL, this will NOT be that. And I can appreciate a director without necessarily liking the stories he tells.

I am industry enough to acknowledge Jojo's skill (and I LOVE 3 Will Be Free - just not as a BL), but I don't always like his narratives. No matter how good he is, his stuff is not why I personally watch Thai BL.

It's GMMTV, so how sexy is it going to get?

Again, see Friend Zone. GMMTV has a late night pantheon, mostly for het, but they will get salacious. Lots of cheating and terrible decisions. There will be no archetypes. Characters will exist in grey areas, even the "good" characters. There will be no paladins in this show. No seme/uke.

To answer this frankly?

Only Friends will get soap opera or telenovella sexy but no more. So we will be in Midnight Chicken territory, not Bed Friends.

I think the words being bandied about:

'sexy', 'crazy', 'problematic', 'high heat'

are used here on tumblr (and in fandom) as an attempt to articulate expectations set up by Jojo's style.

Most viewers only react emotionally to the tenor of a director with this set of skills. That's fine, that's what the production company wants: A visceral emotional reaction.

But I hope I've managed to clarify from a film-critic perspective what's bringing this sensation about?

But ALSO seeing a bunch of, essentially, lower heat pure BL pairs, have to push themselves into messy queer spaces? (Notice GMMTV only let the more established actors into this one? No JoongDunk, no GeminiFourth)

This is probably really what everyone is excited about.

They are gonna see their favorites cheat, sleep around, be gay (not BL gay, but actual gay). Some are legitimately excited about this, some are shipper excited, and the BL-stans who don't know Jojo are doomed to disappointment.

I'm mostly excited by how messy this is gonna make the fandom.

Su su na.

(source)

[youdontloveme-yet]

เพื่อนายแค่หนึ่งเดียว [Never Let Me Go] 2022 dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong

[jimmysea]

ONLY FRIENDS THE SERIES (2023) dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong

[dragonsareawesome123]

P'Aof 🤝 P'Jojo

Last Twilight (2023-2024) dir. Backaof Noppharnach Chaiwimol Never Let Me Go (2022-2023) dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong

[dingyuxi]

ONLY FRIENDS เพื่อนต้องห้าม (2023) dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong @userdramas 2023 secret santa — 🎁 happy holidays @sollucets

[aylinaliens]

ONLY FRIENDS เพื่อนต้องห้าม || EP. 1 dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong

[morkofday]

Mild Lapassalan as MIW in 3 WILL BE FREE (2019) dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong

halsey - hurricane | insp.

requested by @snimeat ♡

[chinzhilla]

Only Friends (2023) dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong

[dimpledpran]

10 Favourite Series/Movies I watched in 2022

3 Will Be Free (dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong ) Genre: Action, Thriller, Romance Starring:  Joss Way-ar Sangngern, Tay Tawan Vihokratana,   Mild Lapassalan Jiravechsoontornkul Language: Thai

Neo is a stripper who is running away from the loan shark Thana and his gang, after having an affair with Thana’s wife Vanika. He ends up bumping into two people who will change his life: Shin, a gay boy, the son of Thana, and Miw, who is running away from her past. Accidentally, they end up killing one of the gang members who was chasing Neo, which makes them enemies of the gang. Now all three need to find a solution to escape from this situation together, while at the same time managing the physical and sentimental attraction that arises between them.

I absolutely loved this. Also the fact that I didnt even have to manipulate 3/4 of the scenes here, shows how colourful this series is. And I loved how P’Jo pushed the boundaries of convention and addressed some hard topics in a very chaotic and fun manner. Loved the pace of the show, and it was constantly keeping me on my toes. Also GMMTV needs to give more females guns!! Female characters with guns get shit done okay. It is a proven fact.

[aprilblossomgirl]

Close friends don’t cross the line.

GMMTV 2023 | ONLY FRIENDS (Dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong)

[bellepark]

From now on, you are no longer my boss. But you are the one and only love of my life.

NEVER LET ME GO (2022-2023) final ep.12 dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong

[youdontloveme-yet]

SILVY PAVIDA as MOLLY

THE WARP EFFECT (2023) | dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong

[jimmysea]

After I'm done with the rehab, should we hit a music festival in some country? Someplace not too far.Of course, how about Japan? They have Summer Sonic and Fuji Rock. Let's check out the lineup

ONLY FRIENDS THE SERIES (2023) dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong

[dragonsareawesome123]

Happy one year anniversary, NLMG!

Phuwin Tangsakyuen and Pond Naravit as Nuengdiao and Palm in Never Let Me Go (2022-2023) dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong Premiered one year ago on December 13, 2022

[gifetc]

Do you have the person that you love the most?

NEVER LET ME GO (2022) dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong

[dingyuxi]

NEVER LET ME GO (2022) dir. Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong — It’s my job, I’ll find a way to do it well. I don’t need a bodyguard. I need a friend. I need someone I can talk to, I need someone to go places with me. You said you’d follow my orders. Can you be my friend?