Zombies right there, most people will argue zombies aren’t a good reason at all I’ll contest that. Zombies being one of the greatest fears of mankind because it’s nigh invulnerable killing machines with no goal or desires beyond hunting the still beating hearts of humans and tearing them out to nosh on them. Zombies are like sharks in a way being a perfect killing machine; shamble, eat, reproduce, repeat until they completely decay or brain destruction. Primordial fears right there.

Semi-dynamic characters if cliched. The lonely guy pining for a girl he can’t have, the raging bitch, the cold hearted philosophical psycho bitch, the ditzy airhead, the cute kid with a fuzzy mascot. Then you have the gun crazed fat kid who’s a direct homage to the creator of Hellsing which is always worth a couple chuckles given the background of both creators of HotD and Hellsing, but instead of just throw away little lines of why the characters are such a way they do try to explain it in the anime’s short run. Takagi has an inferiority complex to live up to her parents who love her as their duty but don’t seem to show more then necessary. Takashi well.. ok brooding loner guy who’s got a Tenchi Complex developing, we can ignore him. But it’s the shining moments of like Kohta going from friendly genial fat guy with an obsession to a crazed maniac killer scoring head shots like no bodies business. Shizune swapping from ditzy airhead to the responsible “adult” and actual nurse, and her dark streak while trying to cope with how screwed up the world has become. It can be argued when mankind falls apart, humans find who they REALLY are and what they will really do, the fact they retain their humanity even slightly when everyone they know is or could be dead and eating people it’s simply astounding.
So while somewhat typical they do attempt to break away and make them a touch more unqiue and interesting.

Then there’s the setting, we’ve seen cities over run by zombies. Shopping Malls, Islands, Markets, Bars, but not to often unless your play Resident Evil or Silent Hill do you see a school. That right there while a typical “anime” thing being “Oh it takes place in a highschool, well bollocks to that” but that’s a standard fair their for anime can’t escape it. But they don’t remain attached or stationed at the school, they move onwards. The slaughter school, The zombified streets of Tokunosu, The Takagi Mansion and it’s ‘inpenetrable’ walls, and then BACK to the streets of Tokunosu. It actually becomes a survival horror anime because they find what they can, and work with it and they don’t have the skills to do so! Keep having to move and survive to avoid being overrun, a messed up world where simply no place is safe.
Though I still question how there are so many unsecured guns in Japan, ignoring the whole locker of guns thing..

And even the Dubbed version has some golden moments, the Sarah Palin Joke had me cackling so hard I fell off out of my chair, onto the floor and rolled down my stairs.

So the combined elements come together for Highschool of the Dead and really do make it a guilty pleasure for me.

As for Ron Pearlman…he was Slade in Teen Titans. 

This is what the dub actors do, so USE THEM! 

*steps off soapbox*

I hesitate to say that technology is to blame, because technology has always been around, like it or not.  Whether the tech level is iPhones and laptops, or TVs and telephones… tech’s been there for long enough.

I think it’s just pure laziness to try and replace tech with good parenting and the result might be some kind of disconnect.  Of course, in the case of true psychological distress, you need a professional to diagnose and treat… and if someone is honestly contemplating ending their life, then they should seek treatment right away.

Like 1st Friday would be more anime news and such
2nd more on games
3rd could be something focused…maybe not as random as the letter m too often but sometimes
4th more on series in the past like 7+ yrs
if a 5th friday fell during the month then just…a bit of everything all over the board with WTF moments almost every set

I don’t mean that whatever categories are have to fall under those days…if there’s a big new release say the 22nd go ahead and mention and remind it the show before. It just could be more themed each week.

I figure with people that listen part of the time and have certain preferences, it’d pull them in more likely during that particular week and they’d enjoy it more while not as much on other weeks.