I chose ‘they/them’, but a better option IMO would be to use the character’s name instead of pronouns until the gender is clarified.

My choice would be "Any, according to case".

One should take care when dealing with this problem. Sometimes, the author is deliberately masking the character's gender (let's use the name "A-san" ) to later reveal an opposite gender to the one that we first thought. As we all know, this language technique is unique to Japanese, which doesn't normally use explicit singular pronouns.

Now this isn't always the case. Other times there is no surprise at all, and simply a matter of us not being able to identify A-san in the first place. The key is for the translator to identify whether the ambiguity is deliberate or not, and to preserve the author's intentions. Because each case is unique, it wouldn't be a good idea to rely on only any one of these techniques listed as the default method. For example, the case "can't tell from appearance" is very different to "character has only been mentioned but not seen yet".

Scanlators should use a combination of techniques. One is to mirror the author, for example by using A-san's name when the author does. Another is to rearrange the sentence subject-object-verb order so that A-san is not the subject, or by seizing the opportunity to refer to the unidentified A-san as someone else, like as a group member. Capitalise on those that minimise any opportunity to use explicit singular pronouns at all.

But if one must use a pronoun, use the one the author wants you (or the other characters) to think. Do you know A-san's gender? Should you know A-san's gender by now? How many chapters has it been since A-san's first appearance? Is the situation a gender-bender comedy or a nitty-gritty thriller? Does the author want you think that A-san is a boy to reveal her later as a girl? (Vice versa.) Have you held off long enough on using "he/she/they" ("it" is a no-no unless A-san is a pet or animal) to afford slipping in a pronoun? Or is it safe to use A-san's name again?

"Any, according to case", because as you can see every story is different. "They/them" will ruin a comedy, but may be appropriate for the no-nonsense; conversely, maybe "he/she" risks inciting an English-speaking flame war for such a serious narrative.

Or perhaps ask a native Japanese reader what they think.

None of the above even if the manga isn´t about LGBT+ themes. Just use the name you have and fudge grammar as much as possible while setting an editor´s note. Which remind me. The official German version of HxH misgendered Kurapika in at least the first volume. Hups. So yeah, never rely on visuals with manga. And good luck figuring out which of the Sekiro bosses are women without wiki to give another recent example.

Gender and sex aren´t the same too, so I´ll just link to the obligatory ContraPoints on Pronouns and call it a day. And watch Pose by FX.

The only issue with they/them is that it can also be plural, and can add confusion to a script.

i.e. - "They went to the store" could mean both "one person went to the store" as well as "a few people went to the store" depending on the context.

Without that context, it's impossible to know how many people somebody is referring to using "they", so a translator should tread carefully when using it.

A good thing to remember is to use other nouns beforehand which you can refer back to using the pronoun "they"...

i.e. - "Seiji-san left the house earlier. They went to the store."

Singular nouns like "that person" can work, or even just the person's name. Just be sure you understand how pronouns work in English, so you know exactly which noun the pronoun is referring to.

Hope this helps. 😀

Very much depends.
Use what the original uses
...and if it uses gender neutral pronouns, which English doesn't have: Avoid using pronouns! (if this means fudging the grammar, so be it. Also, where applicable, using the persons name instead, could also work)

I abhor the over-/mis-use of they/them.
Don't use plurals, when referring to individuals (unless you're using a "majestic plural", though AFAIK that is only used when speaking in First Person. Hence why it is more usually known as the "royal we" )

"It" is rather problematic, as it tends to imply that what is referred to, isn't human. Therefore it should be avoided, though IMO it is far preferable, to "they".

P.S. This does rather remind me of Komi-san wa Komyushou Desu., where one person is referred to as "he/she" and occasional a mix of "he" and "she" (often with both "he" and "she" being used, in the same sentence. I wonder what the original Japanese is, on that issue... maybe I'll try to find some raws of the stuff I've already read. I should be able to manage to read 'em well enough).
(both the gender and sex of the person are intentionally kept as a complete mystery)

P.P.S. I get the impression that the distinction between gender identity and physical sex (and how it is the gender identity, and gender identity alone, that determines whether someone is a man or a woman. Not their body), doesn't particularly seem to be one that most people in Japan, even among the LGBT+ community, seem to fully get. I like Japan, but they sure do seem to be significantly behind, on social issues (actually a whole bunch of things, but probably more so on social issues)

They/them is increasingly being accepted as a singular pronoun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they

So it seems obvious to me that it's the best choice.

The number of people choosing "he/him" is frankly embarrassing.

"It" is actually fine with me; some people would find it offensive but in a manga, the person to be offended isn't real so who gives a fuck.

With that said, I'd prefer to follow the Japanese and just overuse the name and the phrase "that person".

Every single time. Jesus Christ. Get a room you two.

This is a very interesting question, but a bad poll, as is customary -- all options given are wrong. 🙂 The answer I try to pick personally is "try to phrase in a way that wouldn't require pronouns".

This problem does come up rather often. But in most cases, it's a problem caused by English, which requires you to specify subjects or objects in order to sound natural. So while in terms of the story, the character's gender may be entirely immaterial, in English you have to settle on something.

Let's consider several possibilities related to manga, where most text is dialogue.
1) The gender is known to the speaker, but not known to the reader. In this case, using "it" or "they" is entirely retarded because people don't speak that way of those whose gender they know. Solution for the translator: read ahead to find out the actual gender, or if unwilling or unable, rephrase to avoid pronouns.
2) The gender is unknown to the speaker (provided you are able to tell): this one is easy. You can use "they" or "he" or "she" depending on what kind of social attitude you want to give the speaker. "It" is never an option when talking about people or anyone you need to anthropomorphize for the sake of the story.
3) The actual gender is supposed to surprise the reader later on, and you didn't/couldn't read ahead: you are screwed. Surprises like that are a bane in fan translation.

Out of my sense of paranoia about 3, I try to avoid pronouns as much as possible.

The poll is clearly missing the "Translate it in a way that pronouns are not used" option.

Just out of curiosity, what series have actually had to deal with this, and WHAT SERIES DO PEOPLE THINK ARRIVED TO THE BEST CONCLUSION ON HOW TO HANDLE IT?