Magical Kanan

Working at her mom's restaurant, middle school girl Chihaya has her world turned sideways when a small rabbit-like creature named Natsuki shows up. Turns out he's an agent from a magical realm called Evergreen, and five powerful 'seeds' that manipulate human desires have been stolen and scattered across Earth. People are getting possessed by them, turning into monsters, and Natsuki has decided Chihaya is the only person who can stop it. So now she's transforming into Magical Warrior Carmine and hunting down seeds between shifts. If you grew up with Cardcaptor Sakura or Pretty Cure, you'll recognize the bones of this setup immediately — girl chosen by destiny, magical partner, monster-of-the-week structure. Where Magical Canan differs is in its ecchi lean, which comes through in the transformation sequences and overall aesthetic. It's closer in spirit to Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha than the softer end of the genre. The show is 13 episodes from AIC ASTA, adapted from a visual novel, and it keeps a fairly emotional undercurrent running beneath the action. There are questions early on about why Chihaya's mother seems to already know about all of this, which gives the drama some actual texture beyond the weekly seed-retrieval missions. The soundtrack, including the opening 'Magical Chodai,' fits the mid-2000s mahou shoujo atmosphere well. If you want something short and undemanding from that era with a slightly more mature tone, this scratches that particular itch.