When is the best time to watch the movies?

Namely Memories of Nobody, The Diamond Dust Rebellion, Fade to Black and Hell Verse?

Now if you're about to respond by saying something along the lines of "the films don't fit into the anime/manga canon, so watch them whenever you like dude," I would beg you to reconsider; not only is this response not really helpful, it isn't exactly accurate either.

Since the movies feature characters who appear in the anime at certain points (characters, mind you, who tend to die), it would make sense that the movies would fit in best at certain points of the anime (more or less). I would not, for example, watch the first movie after only watching the first five episodes of the series: I'd be left guessing who characters like Renji, Byakuya, Ishida and even Kon are, since they would be complete strangers to me at that point.

Now, I've read some reviews about the movies, and it's clear to me that they tend to make the series' continuity their collective bitch (and I realize that this causes a lot of fan butthurt - as well as the typical "watch it whenever you like" response). However, I believe that with a little stretch of the imagination the films can fit at very strategic points in the series. Again, take the first movie for example: considering the fact that Ichigo is now on friendly (more-or-less) terms with the Soul Society crowd, it's a fair assumption that it takes place after the Soul Society arc. Can we narrow it down from there?

Looking forward to your replies.




Knowledge is limited; imagination encircles the world.