Battle for Happiness (2023) ~ A Real Aunt is Reliable

“Battle for Happiness” is a Korean drama series released in 2023, has 16 episodes, and is categorized as Thriller, Suspense, Crime, and Mystery. (NOTE: This is an Amazon Prime Original, however, it is streaming free on Viki.)

♦ I’m a Real Auntie

“Battle for Happiness” is a “how to” Korean drama series about how NOT to be a bad mother and how to be the best auntie in the whole wide world. Some mothers believe being upper class and snooty is the only way to live. They put their children under extreme pressure to behave according to their “standards”.

Three (3) mothers ~ Song Jeong-A, Kim Na-Young, and Oh Yoo-Jin ~ compete with each other on social media (and everywhere else!). In other words, they are in a battle for happiness. Try to be happier than me. I dare you!!

There is another mother, Hwang Ji-Ye, who is a working mom. She doesn’t have much free time to compete on social media. Besides, she already knows she is not in their league. But she is trying to give her child an opportunity by enrolling her daughter in the same school. She gets to see how those queen bees act up close and personal. They sting each other … a lot!! If you get in their way, they’ll sting you too! She still tries to get on their good side. If she fits in, then her child has a better chance of being accepted by their kids.

Can you imagine if you’re a kid or a spouse? When you sit down at the table to eat dinner, the setting has to be picture-perfect because it will be posted via social media. Everybody has to see a perfect family. If your child participates in a school activity their perfect photos have to be uploaded to social media as proof to show what a perfect mother you are. And on and on and on … They work hard to provoke each other’s jealousy and envy. It’s sickening!

Jang Mi-Ho is an assistant manager in the marketing department for a bank, DGB Financial Group. She’s a working woman, with no spouse, no kids, and no social life. She suggested a photo shoot with one of the bank’s customers who is also a social media influencer. The customer can upload the photos to their social media account and it would be good advertising for the bank. The influencer she suggested was one of the mothers, Oh Yoo-Jin. But why her?

Jang Mi-Ho and Oh Yoo-Jin have a history with each other. Bad history. The kind of memories you don’t want to remember but you can’t forget. There is something Oh Yoo-Jin wants to hide. Her social media posts never include anything about her side of the family. Jang Mi-Ho wonders how and why Oh Yoo-Jin can live her life so happily and carefree. Carefree??? No. Guilt-free. How can she be so guilt-free?

Oh Yoo-Jin arranges to meet Jang Mi-Ho and then tries to pay her off. She offered her money not to get involved in her life or let anybody know they had a relationship. Jang Mi-Ho is angry and offended. How dare she offer her money? She goes to the building where Oh Yoo-Jin lives to give the money back. When Oh Yoo-Jin sees her she goes into full-blown panic mode! But why?

Jang Mi-Ho questions her reactions. “What are you so afraid will be found out?”

It’s obvious Oh Yoo-Jin wants to hide something from her past. She will go to extreme lengths to … “protect her family”. She’s protecting her family’s happiness, and don’t make her feel threatened. That means everything she does ~ kind, cruel, or malicious ~ is justified! Oh Yoo-Jin is a total witch. She collects stuff about the other mothers so she can use it against them later.

Jang Mi-Ho tries to visit Oh Yoo-Jin one more time. But Oh Yoo-Jin says she hates her and wishes she would die! Jang Mi-Ho decided it was not worth any effort to see her again but then she got a phone call. It is hard to understand what Oh Yoo-Jin is saying. It sounds like she said, “Help me.” She leaves and the next day reads a news report saying Oh Yoo-Jin is dead. WHAT?? Dead? Suicide or murder? That’s not all. Her husband is in a coma. Not sure what happened to him. But somebody needs to look after their two young girls.

The grandfather asked Jang Mi-Ho to help him take care of the children. She said she helped with the funeral and fulfilled her familial duties. Too bad. The young girls seem to like their “real auntie”. Their mother told them that the other mothers were supposed to be their aunts too. But Jang Mi-Ho is a real auntie.

The young girls saw Jang Mi-Ho get on a bus. The grandfather hired a babysitter, but they sneaked out and tried to get on a bus. Where were they trying to go? To their real auntie. Where else? Believe it or not, for once, the moms used their social media for something good. They alerted others about the missing children. Fortunately. they were not kidnapped and nothing bad happened to them. Jang Mi-Ho found them when someone mentioned they had been spotted on a bus.

At first, she tried to take them to her home. But it was an unfamiliar place and of course, they cried because they wanted to see their mommy. Jang Mi-Ho had no other choice. To stop them from crying she took them to their home.

Even though she had no children, Jang Mi-Ho’s maternal instincts had been activated. The children were innocent. Those mothers, although they helped with the search via social media, she sensed there was something very sinister about them. Then there is also the possibility that Oh Yoo-Jin and her husband had been murdered. The murderer could be one of the mothers. She stepped into Oh Yoo-Jin’s shoes and decided to “protect her family”. They were now her kids. Now she was in the battle for happiness.

Main Characters:

• Jang Mi-Ho (played by Lee El, “Yaksha: Ruthless Operations”)
• Song Jeong-A (played by Jin Seo-Yeon, “One the Woman”)
• Kim Na-Young (played by Cha Ye-Ryun, “Golden Rainbow”)
• Oh Yoo-Jin (played by Park Hyo-Joo)
• Hwang Ji-Ye (played by Woo Jung-Won)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 7.6 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.9 out of 10 stars
• Dramabeans: 7.7 out of 10 stars
• Viki viewers rated this series 9 out of 10 stars.

My personal rating is 9 out of 10 stars.

From the moment Jang Mi-Ho walked back into the building carrying one of the girls and holding the hand of the other little girl, I walked into the building with her all the way, giving her my moral support. Together we were going to win the battle for happiness. LOL.

It was an excellent series. I loved the real auntie. But those mothers irked me!

LINKS OF INTEREST:

• Amazon Prime K-drama Battle for Happiness: mothers battle social media addictions in mystery drama, starring Lee El | South China Morning Post
• Battle For Happiness 2023 K-Drama Review | With Spoilers | The Muse Culture
• “Battle for Happiness”’s rating is on the rise thanks to Cha Ye Ryun’s acting performance. | KBIZoom
• Dramas depicting dark side of social media gain popularity | The Korea Herald (“ENA’s “Battle for Happiness” put the spotlight on characters’ social media interactions.”)

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

Korean Addict. “BATTLE for HAPPINESS.” YouTube Video. YouTube, January 1, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lem78gZKrY0.‌