Hair Strands Sticking Out

In manga and anime, when a character's hair is suddenly drawn disheveled, with strands sticking out of their hair, it generally means the character is overwhelmed, at loss, stupefied, or not knowing how to deal with an incredible situation.

Not to be confused with ahoge アホ毛, which is when the hair strand sticking out is part of the design of the character.

Character: Akaza Akari 赤座あかり
Anime: Yuru Yuri ゆるゆり (Episode 1)

Examples

Examples

For reference, some examples:

Character: Akaza Akari 赤座あかり
Anime: Yuru Yuri ゆるゆり (Episode 1)

Akarin's eyes turn white due to the fact that she doesn't stand out much for a main character.

Masaki Aeka Jurai 柾木阿重霞樹雷, example of hair strands sticking out of a character.

Character: Masaki Aeka Jurai 柾木阿重霞樹雷
Anime: Tenchi Muyou! Ryououki 天地無用！魎皇鬼 (Episode 2)

Aeka cries due to the fact that she can't just lift a spaceship out of the water with her bare hands.

In some cases, the clothes become disheveled, too:

Ootori Kyouya 鳳鏡夜, Fujioka Haruhi 藤岡ハルヒ, example of hair sticking out of a character.

Left: Ootori Kyouya 鳳鏡夜
Right: Fujioka Haruhi 藤岡ハルヒ
Anime: Ouran High School Host Club, Ouran Koukou Hosuto-Bu 桜蘭高校ホスト部 (Episode 9)

Haruhi feels down due to many mind-blowing facts that go against everything she thought she knew.

Delia Ketchum, Hanako ハナコ, example of a single eye turning into a star.

Character: Delia Ketchum, Hanako ハナコ
Anime: Pokémon, ポケットモンスター (Episode 1)

Context: Ash Ketchum's mother got electrocuted by his electric rat.
A star in one eye is an older symbol typically used when a character is hurt and figuratively "seeing stars."