ONA
Description
Pile is a squirrel and one of the two central characters of the anime Pie no Mi: Oshi no Mori he Yōkoso, living in a forest community whose residents share a deep devotion to the snack called Pie no Mi. She is an energetic and curious character, small in size but with a noticeably big personality. Her birthday is June 4, and the number 64 holds strong personal significance to her because Pie no Mi is known for having sixty-four layers; her alarm clock is set for 6:04, and her pass code and license plate also incorporate 64. Seeing the numbers 63 or 65 is said to make her feel quietly regretful, and she once caused her own birthday cake to catch fire after insisting on placing 64 candles on it.
Pile's defining trait is her overwhelming love for Pie no Mi. She thinks about the snack constantly and can suddenly freeze in place when a thought about it overtakes her. She speaks very rapidly whenever the topic comes up, and her enthusiasm frequently leads her to fail at whatever she is doing, a tendency the character herself is known for. If she goes without eating a Pie no Mi, her sleeping face is said to become alarming. She is a hearty eater who treats Pie no Mi as her reason for living, fills her lunchbox with it, and streams videos of herself simply eating it, a habit that has gained her a small but devoted following. Her senses are unusually sharp where the snack is concerned: she can identify a Pie no Mi's flavor just by listening to the crunch of someone else eating it, and the smell of baking pie is her favorite scent in the world. Because she can judge whether a batch is perfectly done just by sniffing the air around the oven, she was given the role of oven operator in the factory.
In personality, Pile is friendly, sociable, and laid-back. She loves sharing Pie no Mi with others and gives it to anyone she meets, and whenever a new flavor is released she buys three sets, one for eating, one for giving away as presents, and one for storage. She is fond of the snack's hexagonal shape and can be captivated by any hexagonal object, from honeycomb cells to umbrellas on rainy days. She is also skilled at makeup and loves cute things, and she enjoys taking her favorite Pie no Mi out with her on trips so that they can take commemorative selfies together, which she posts online. She invented a hand gesture known as the Pie no Mi pose, in which she forms a hexagon with her fingers.
Her motivation drives the story of the series. When she and her close companion Roxy discover the legendary Pie no Mi tree deep in the forest, they are so overwhelmed by the deliciousness of what they find that they decide to spread Pie no Mi to everyone in the forest and begin attempting to make it themselves. Their efforts do not go well, and word of their struggles reaches the Pie no Mi fairy, who secretly disguises itself as an animal in order to help them in their factory. Pile's role is therefore that of an enthusiastic instigator: her devotion sets events in motion, she and Roxy sit at the center of the forest's daily happenings, and her curiosity leads the pair into gentle, humorous situations with the other residents.
Her most important relationship is with Roxy, another squirrel who shares her passion for the snack. The two are close companions, and their interaction forms the core of the series. Pile is the more impulsive and careless of the pair, and in the factory she frequently miscounts the sixty-four layers, for which Roxy scolds her. When she makes a mistake, Pile tends to soothe herself by buying Pie no Mi merchandise, and arranging her growing collection at home gives her the motivation to try again the next day. Beyond Roxy, she interacts warmly with a varied cast of forest residents, including the forgetful but reliable elder turtle Chōrō, the fox Kitsuneesan, the bear Kumama, and the squirrel Dongurina, whose efforts to make acorns popular place her in mild contrast to Pile's single-minded loyalty to Pie no Mi.
Because the series is a short, gentle comedy, Pile does not undergo dramatic change, but she demonstrates quiet growth through persistence. Her repeated failures never discourage her, and her unusual sensory gifts turn into a genuine strength, leading to her place at the oven and a reputation for having once caught the scent of the legendary Pie no Mi somewhere in the world. Her development is shown mainly through her deepening dedication to making the snack properly and her continued warmth in sharing what she loves with the rest of the forest.
Pile's defining trait is her overwhelming love for Pie no Mi. She thinks about the snack constantly and can suddenly freeze in place when a thought about it overtakes her. She speaks very rapidly whenever the topic comes up, and her enthusiasm frequently leads her to fail at whatever she is doing, a tendency the character herself is known for. If she goes without eating a Pie no Mi, her sleeping face is said to become alarming. She is a hearty eater who treats Pie no Mi as her reason for living, fills her lunchbox with it, and streams videos of herself simply eating it, a habit that has gained her a small but devoted following. Her senses are unusually sharp where the snack is concerned: she can identify a Pie no Mi's flavor just by listening to the crunch of someone else eating it, and the smell of baking pie is her favorite scent in the world. Because she can judge whether a batch is perfectly done just by sniffing the air around the oven, she was given the role of oven operator in the factory.
In personality, Pile is friendly, sociable, and laid-back. She loves sharing Pie no Mi with others and gives it to anyone she meets, and whenever a new flavor is released she buys three sets, one for eating, one for giving away as presents, and one for storage. She is fond of the snack's hexagonal shape and can be captivated by any hexagonal object, from honeycomb cells to umbrellas on rainy days. She is also skilled at makeup and loves cute things, and she enjoys taking her favorite Pie no Mi out with her on trips so that they can take commemorative selfies together, which she posts online. She invented a hand gesture known as the Pie no Mi pose, in which she forms a hexagon with her fingers.
Her motivation drives the story of the series. When she and her close companion Roxy discover the legendary Pie no Mi tree deep in the forest, they are so overwhelmed by the deliciousness of what they find that they decide to spread Pie no Mi to everyone in the forest and begin attempting to make it themselves. Their efforts do not go well, and word of their struggles reaches the Pie no Mi fairy, who secretly disguises itself as an animal in order to help them in their factory. Pile's role is therefore that of an enthusiastic instigator: her devotion sets events in motion, she and Roxy sit at the center of the forest's daily happenings, and her curiosity leads the pair into gentle, humorous situations with the other residents.
Her most important relationship is with Roxy, another squirrel who shares her passion for the snack. The two are close companions, and their interaction forms the core of the series. Pile is the more impulsive and careless of the pair, and in the factory she frequently miscounts the sixty-four layers, for which Roxy scolds her. When she makes a mistake, Pile tends to soothe herself by buying Pie no Mi merchandise, and arranging her growing collection at home gives her the motivation to try again the next day. Beyond Roxy, she interacts warmly with a varied cast of forest residents, including the forgetful but reliable elder turtle Chōrō, the fox Kitsuneesan, the bear Kumama, and the squirrel Dongurina, whose efforts to make acorns popular place her in mild contrast to Pile's single-minded loyalty to Pie no Mi.
Because the series is a short, gentle comedy, Pile does not undergo dramatic change, but she demonstrates quiet growth through persistence. Her repeated failures never discourage her, and her unusual sensory gifts turn into a genuine strength, leading to her place at the oven and a reputation for having once caught the scent of the legendary Pie no Mi somewhere in the world. Her development is shown mainly through her deepening dedication to making the snack properly and her continued warmth in sharing what she loves with the rest of the forest.