Do we like them?

Do we like Rain?

Our score: 6 out of 10. A clean harm check and some real kindness, held back by a thin record and one awkward concert moment.

Rain is the Korean pop star turned screen actor, real name Jung Ji-hoon, and at 44 he is still touring and still taking acting roles. His latest is a villain in the second season of Netflix's Bloodhounds, and he has talked openly about viewers not warming to him in the part.

The messiest moment of his year came on 17 January at the Taipei Arena. Mid-show he pointed at a fan who was filming and asked why she wasn't dancing. She was hearing-impaired and, per Asiae, the venue reportedly had no real-time subtitles, so she couldn't hear him or the interpreter. She wrote that she hadn't been dancing because she couldn't hear.

What he did next is the interesting bit. He replied to her post himself, in Traditional Chinese, saying he was sorry he hadn't known and admitting he hadn't been considerate enough. He also said the night would be a lesson for running future concerts with more care. An apology only counts if behaviour changes, so watch his next tour, but it was a better response than most stars manage.

On the harm test, we came up empty in a good way. Searches on LGBTQ+ issues, women, race, climate and politics turned up no statements or campaigns from him on any of them, and nothing about him platforming people who push harm. That's an absence of evidence rather than a clean bill of health, and we couldn't open several older articles, so we can't speak to disputes from earlier years.

On the good side, in June 2020 he pledged all his earnings from a Levi's Korea ambassador deal to buy sanitary products for women in hardship during the pandemic. His agency said it was his way of thanking fans who had revived his song Gang. That's a practical, specific kindness, not just a trophy.