"Speak Like a Child" is the title of a piece by Herbie Hancock
The story Jet tells, which basically runs through the entire episode, is
actually a famous Japanese folktale about a guy named Taro Urashima. Taro
was a young fisherman. One day he comes upon a turtle being bullied by children,
and stops them. To thank him for his deed, the turtle brings Taro to the beautiful
and mysterious underwater palace of Ryuuguujou, where he meets a lovely princess.
He enjoys his time there so much, that he doesn't notice the passing of years.
Finally, he feels a longing for home, and decides to leave Ryuuguujou. As
a remembrance, the princess gives him the tamatebako, a precious treasure
chest. She warns him never to open it, however. When Taro returns to his village,
he finds that he doesn't recognize it, nor know any of its people. Soon he
realizes that many years had passed since he left the village, and everyone
he knew was dead. He resigns himself to living this life, but desperately
searches every day for the turtle to bring him back to the paradise of Ryuuguujou.
Eventually, in desperation and loneliness, he opens the tamatebako. Suddenly
he becomes an old man and dies of despair. Chipper story, isn't it? Anyway,
the tale has some bearing upon this episode, so pay attention. ;)
Another fable that is referenced in the story is the tortoise and the hare.
The first helocopter which brings a C.O.D. package for Faye looks like a turtle;
the second one, a hare. Thanks to all the people who got on me top put this
in the references. I did notice it at first, but for some reason I doubted
that it was really was a reference.
The VHS/Beta guy in this episode is a parody of die hard "otaku" or "fan-boys/girls".
In English, "otaku" tends to just mean a big fan of anime. In Japanese, an
otaku is something of an insult, meaning someone who is un-healthily obsessed
with a particular person or thing. To a certain extent, this is Sunrise making
fun of their audience. :p
The video that the fan-boy watches is a parody of "Beverly Hills: 90210."
If you look at the producer's names during the credits of that show, they
are "Jason Prestory" (which sounds a whole lot like "Jason Priestly", especially
if you say it with a Japanese accent) and "Shanan D'Har. . . ".
If you notice any references that I missed, I would appreciate
it if you e-mail me.