Complex was a Japanese

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

duo composed of guitarist

Tomoyasu Hotei , also known simply as Hotei ( ), is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor. With a career spanning more than 35 years, Hotei claims record sales of over 40 million copies and has collaborated with acclaimed a ...

and singer

Koji Kikkawa Koji, Kōji, Kohji or Kouji may refer to: *Kōji (given name), a masculine Japanese given name *Kōji (Heian period) (康治), Japanese era, 1142–1144 *Kōji (Muromachi period) (弘治), Japanese era, 1555–1558 *Koji orange, a Japanese citrus ...

. They released their self-titled debut in 1989, along with their first single and video, "Be My Baby". After a tour to promote the album, they released its follow-up, ''Romantic 1990'', followed by a live album, ''19901108'' a year later. The concert immortalized on the ''19901108'' CD and video turned out to be their last. They broke up sometime after the show, and in an interview Hotei said that the experience of Complex ended his friendship with Kikkawa (equating it to a divorce) and that he thought the whole thing was "a mistake". To date, neither Hotei nor Kikkawa has elaborated on the reason behind the band's breakup. Following the band's breakup, both Hotei and Kikkawa continued their solo careers. The band's label Toshiba EMI released a greatest hits compilation called ''Complex Best'' in 1998, and a DVD re-issues of their video catalog, which are currently out of print. Complex-live-2011

On April 28, 2011, it was announced that after 21 years, Kikkawa and

Hotei Hotei may refer to: *Hotei Station, a Japanese train station *Tomoyasu Hotei, a Japanese musician *Budai, known as "Hotei" in Japanese, a semi-historical monk and deity *''Coralliophila hotei ''Coralliophila hotei'' is a species of sea snail, a ...

would reunite for a Complex show on July 30 and 31st at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

. All proceeds were donated to aid the victims of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The performance was released on CD,

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

in 2012.

Discography

Albums

* ''Complex'' (April 26, 1989) * ''Romantic 1990'' (April 18, 1990) * ''19901108'' (January 23, 1991, live album) * ''Complex Best'' (February 6, 1998, compilation album)

Singles

* "Be My Baby" (April 8, 1989) * "1990" (March 14, 1990)

Videos

* ''Be My Baby'' * ''Complex Tour '89'' * ''Romantic'' * ''Romantic Extra'' * ''19901108''

In popular culture

* The band was referenced as a pun in episode 24 of the 2015 reboot of

Osomatsu-kun is a comedy manga series by Fujio Akatsuka which ran in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' magazine from 1962 to 1969. The series revolves around a group of sextuplet brothers who cause all sorts of mischief. It has been adapted int ...

. * In 2016, the song "Be My Baby" went viral in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

via an edit featuring Abe Nana and Sato Shin of the '' Cinderella Girls'' subseries of

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational video game video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in ...

's popular '' Idolmaster'' franchise.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Complex Japanese rock music groups Rock music duos Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 1990