"Manga to Learn AI & Digital Literacy" Officially Launches on June 29 — 100 Free 4-Panel Manga & 100 Audio Videos with Commentary for Children

NPO Digital Kodomo BASE (Ota City, Tokyo; Tomoyuki Urushiya, President; hereinafter "the Organization") today launches "Manga to Learn AI & Digital Literacy," a free learning site for children. The site offers 100 four-panel manga and 100 matching audio videos across 11 themed categories — covering AI, SNS, money, mindset, and online safety — each accompanied by kid-friendly commentary and a "Notes for Parents" section. Videos are self-hosted on the Organization's own servers with no external tracking and a bandwidth-conscious design, suitable for both home and classroom use. The site is free to use and requires no registration.

Background

Children's exposure to digital tools has expanded rapidly in recent years. Elementary school students now routinely encounter generative AI, social media, smartphone in-app purchases, and online games. While these tools are convenient, they also bring real risks for children — personal-information leaks, phishing, online harassment, unintentional spending, and over-reliance on AI-generated answers.

What children need today is less "how to use these tools" and more "how to use them wisely and safely." Yet educational materials that children themselves can read with enjoyment, and that also speak to parents, remain scarce — especially for the elementary and junior-high age range. The Organization has been building this manga-and-commentary format to fill that gap.

Service Overview

"Manga to Learn AI & Digital Literacy" (https://digitalkodomo.jp/kids-manga/) follows three characters — Haru, Mio, and Ai — through everyday situations where they learn the "smart" use of digital tools and AI. Each lesson page presents a 4-panel manga, an audio-narrated short video (portrait 9:16, optimized for smartphones), the key takeaway for that lesson, a "Remember this" checklist, a "Notes for Parents" commentary, and a link to a related Kids' Future Notes article. By offering both a "read" path and a "watch" path, the site reaches children who prefer reading and those who absorb information better through visuals and audio.

The 100 lessons are organized into 11 themed categories covering the situations children most often face today (Japanese page; English version under consideration).

Key Features

1. Four-part lesson design: manga, audio video, commentary, and parent notesEach lesson opens with a manga and a matching audio-narrated video. The lesson page then provides a kid-friendly explanation and checklist, and closes with background notes that give parents a starting point for conversation at home. Offering both "read" and "watch" entry points reaches children who absorb information differently.
2. 11 categories, 100 lessons (manga and video both) covering today's digital lifeFrom AI usage to SNS manners, in-app purchases, mental well-being, and password management — the curriculum addresses the situations children actually face. Readers can pick a category that matters to them.
3. Self-hosted videos, no external tracking, bandwidth-friendlyAll 100 videos are served from the Organization's own servers, with no external video-platform tracking cookies (a COPPA-conscious design for children). Videos use preload="none" so they do not download until a child taps play — lowering load on home mobile data and school networks. Schools that block YouTube can still play the videos directly on this site.
4. Integrated with the Organization's "Kids' Future Notes" siteEach lesson links to a related Kids' Future Notes article so that children who become curious — and parents who want depth — can move naturally to a longer-form explanation.
5. Free, no signup, works on phone and PCNo account or personal-information entry is needed. Videos are formatted in portrait 9:16, optimized for smartphones, and play comfortably on tablets and PCs as well. The format is intended for at-home self-study as well as classroom and after-school use.

Sample Pages

• Hub (top page): https://digitalkodomo.jp/kids-manga/
• All-manga index: https://digitalkodomo.jp/kids-manga/4koma/
• New category "💰 Money & In-App Purchases": https://digitalkodomo.jp/kids-manga/4koma/cat-okane.html
• New category "💗 Mindset & Life": https://digitalkodomo.jp/kids-manga/4koma/cat-ikikata.html
• Individual lesson example (What is AI?): https://digitalkodomo.jp/kids-manga/4koma/ai1.html

Learn by Video, Too (with audio narration)

All 100 lessons are also published as portrait short videos with audio narration and sound effects. Children who find reading difficult — especially younger students — can "watch and listen" to the same content. The manga (read) / video (watch) / commentary (deepen) flows together on a single page.

Videos are available in two ways:

• Watch directly on the site: A video player is embedded on each lesson page. Because the videos are served from our own infrastructure rather than via YouTube, there are no ads or external trackers — a privacy-friendly design suitable for school networks and child-safe use.
• YouTube official channel "Digital Kodomo BASE" (@digitalkodomobase): the same videos are also released on our YouTube channel in sequence.

Roadmap

The Organization will continue to expand the categories and number of lessons. In parallel, it will support adoption by schools, local governments, and child-support organizations as supplemental material, develop character-led workshops, and explore English and other multilingual versions, including multilingual narration and subtitles for the video content. The goal is to help children move from being "users" of digital tools to being capable of "discerning" them, in cooperation with parents and educators.

About This Site

"Manga to Learn AI & Digital Literacy" is published free of charge so that it reaches children who may not otherwise have full access to digital learning at home or school. It joins the Organization's Kids' Study Lab, Kids' Future Notes, and Kids' IT Lab as one of the pillars of the Organization's educational work, all sustained by the warm support of donors and supporters. Donations are gratefully received at https://digitalkodomo.jp/donate_en.html.