[3] For example, not knowing what she wanted to do in life, Kirino began working at the Iwanami Hall movie theater in her early twenties.
So far, four of her novels (Out, Grotesque, Real World, and The Goddess Chronicle, the last of which was written for the Canongate Myth Series) have been translated into English.
[4] She has apparently been successful in reaching readers emotionally; for example Kirino was approached by a woman who thanked her for the liberation she felt after reading Out.
"[4] Critic Sophie Harrison has argued that Kirino presents a less-sanitized version of Japan, far from the stereotypical images of cherry blossoms and Hello Kitty, and deals with sordid subjects such as crime and prostitution in her work.
[7] Loneliness often seems to be a theme in her work, as is the idea that materialism and money have corrupted modern Japanese life, especially where family and romantic relationships are concerned.
[2] In fact, Out has been interpreted as "a cautionary tale of personal finance"[9] and "a grim portrayal of Japan's underclasses, of its female characters' lives, and of the social, sexual, and economic injustice that they face.
Typically, in her novels, such as Out, Kirino mainly focuses on women who do unimaginable things, which is why her books can be considered as “feminist noir.”[5] She writes in a convincing, realistic type of way, which leads to the greatness of her work stemming from "her ability to put us inside the skins of these women.”[5] This focus on more realistic portrayals of Japanese women seems to be a trademark of her work, found in many of her novels such as Grotesque.
The author recounts how a young man once told her that until he read Out, he “never realized that regular middle aged women actually had a life.”[1] Society, she says, takes advantage of powerless women and it is her goal to create empowered female characters to show readers the power of the “weaker sex.”[1] For these reasons, she has been called the "queen of Japanese crime.
"[9] Significance of Title – Kirino explains that the title Out has many meanings attached to it—out as in “off the path” or “exit,” out as in “no good,” and out as in “outside.”[1] She believes there is “a certain kind of freedom in being completely ‘out.’ If you go out one exit, there's another door, and if you open that, you don't know what awaits you"[1] When asked about the broken bonds in the story, the author says she believes there is no such thing as society and that we are essentially solitary creatures.
[2] Although Kirino received much criticism for her gruesome and disturbing scenes, Out sold a significantly large number of copies, won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award,[1] and was even made into a film directed by Hideyuki Hirayama, which was released in 2002.
Instead, she interviewed a pathologist and took notes on the details of their operations, such as wearing goggles while dismembering a body due to the flying shards of bone.
Kirino also stated in an LA Weekly interview that "[While writing] Out, I wanted to understand the experience of [working] at a bento factory.