The thin slivers around the edge or something about the program used to make the curve looks off.
the way apple does IOS is super flat design is a good indicator. The Tomome tries to be super flat but its not some how, and ends up looking like a 12 year olds ms paint.
The way the cube combines the letters is quite smart and probably subconscious, it also makes you look at it to see how it fits together, because humans are puzzle solvers
Further the CUBE logo has three different but coherent presentations which builds a sigil effect. None of the others integrate with the words or suggest type face of NEM.
The Cube offers a complete package and design language with which the rest of the nem effort can use as a guide.
Also I don't need and explanation about the Cube, it tells me what it is even in the logo N + E + M. The tomone requires a blurb of text to justify it.
For this reason the cube is currently better on multiple fronts, and the more I look the better the cube is.
I don't think a cube represents the non-hierarchical ideals of NEM.
I agree with you about the balance of the original tomoe logo, so I made some changes:
I would encourage people interested in the logo design to join the logo committee. It is up to the logo committee to try to provide some guidance for the design of NEM. The tomoe logo is still a work in progress and we don't have any new design from Loi, so I don't think holding a vote now is the best time.
Please join the logo committee on trello if interested (PM me with your trello username if you need to be added to the board or something):
https://trello.com/c/JhDuvPYf/66-logo-contest-2-phase-of-narrowing-down